Hurricane Hilary developed in the eastern Pacific Ocean and was initially declared a Category 4 storm, but it was downgraded on Saturday to a Category 2 storm with maximum sustained winds of 110 miles per hour. It is expected to make landfall in Mexico by midday Sunday.
Scroll to the top for the latest updates. All times Pacific Daylight Time (PDT).
Saturday, August 19, 3:20 p.m. PDT: The National Hurricane Center has downgraded Hurricane Hilary to a Category 2 storm with maximum sustained winds at 110 miles per hour.
BREAKING: Hurricane Hilary has been downgraded to a Category 2 storm as it heads for Mexico’s Baja California peninsula, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center. https://t.co/gzElBm3tkT
— The Associated Press (@AP) August 19, 2023
Saturday, August 19, 10:44 p.m. PDT: The National Hurricane Center’s latest advisory warns of “Catastrophic and Life-Threatening Flooding” over Baja California and the Southwestern United States through Monday as Hilary continues its course toward the Baja California peninsula.
Hurricane #Hilary Advisory 13A: Hilary Headed Toward the Central Baja California Peninsula. Catastrophic and Life-Threatening Flooding Likely Over Baja California and the Southwestern U. S. Through Monday. https://t.co/Oy8uoeRKme
— NHC Eastern Pacific (@NHC_Pacific) August 19, 2023
Saturday, August 19, 8:40 a.m. PDT: Hilary has been downgraded to a Category 3 storm. The National Weather Service for Los Angeles reports that Hilary “is expected to still be a hurricane as it approaches the west coast of the Baja California Peninsula” but will weaken to a tropical storm before it reaches Southern California.
#HurricaneHillary just before the sun rose this morning. Hilary is currently a CAT 3, and is expected to still be a hurricane as it approches the west coast of the Baja California Peninsula, but is forecasted to weaken to a #TropicalStorm before it reaches #SoCal. pic.twitter.com/f558vlktnJ
— NWS Los Angeles (@NWSLosAngeles) August 19, 2023
Saturday, August 19, 5:40 a.m. PDT: Hilary remains a Category 4 storm as of Saturday morning with winds up to 130MPH.
Hurricane #Hilary remains a Category 4 storm, with winds at 130 mph.
— The Weather Channel (@weatherchannel) August 19, 2023
In the Southwest U.S., flash flooding is expected, with dangerous and locally catastrophic impacts likely from tonight into Monday! We’re LIVE getting you ready. pic.twitter.com/nhynLdIM9A
Friday, August 18, 3:00 p.m. PDT: The National Weather Service has expanded its tropical storm watch to Los Angeles County and much of Ventura County, in addition to Orange County and San Diego County.
The Tropical Strom Watch has been expanded to include ALL of LOS ANGELES County, as well as mountains, valley and foothills of Ventura County. pic.twitter.com/zL6SX9vO50
— NWS Los Angeles (@NWSLosAngeles) August 18, 2023
Some communities in Orange County have already begun distributing sandbags to residents, as flooding is expected.
The National Hurricane Center said:
On the forecast track, the center of Hilary will move close to the west coast of the Baja California peninsula over the weekend and reach southern California by Sunday night.
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Weakening is expected to begin by Saturday, but Hilary will still be a hurricane when it approaches the west coast of the Baja California peninsula Saturday night and Sunday. Hilary is expected to weaken to a tropical storm by late Sunday before it reaches southern California.
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Heavy rainfall in association with Hilary is expected to impact the Southwestern United States through next Wednesday, peaking on Sunday and Monday. Rainfall amounts of 3 to 6 inches, with isolated amounts of 10 inches, are expected across portions of southern California and southern Nevada. Dangerous to locally catastrophic flooding will be possible. Elsewhere across portions of the Western United States, rainfall totals of 1 to 3 inches are expected, resulting in localized flash flooding.
The National Hurricane Center has issued a tropical storm watch for Southern California for the first time in history.
Hurricane #Hilary exploded over the past 24 hours and is now a huge Category 4 storm with a well-defined eye traveling north, as seen in this #GOESWest 1-minute IR imagery.
— UW-Madison CIMSS (@UWCIMSS) August 18, 2023
NHC updates at https://t.co/Vn8mtroypV
Visit our #HurricaneHilary dashboard at https://t.co/VfCePXAfED pic.twitter.com/aXKtsFIlb3
Hurricanes commonly form in August and September off the Mexican coast, bringing warm water and humid air to Southern California, but the storms themselves rarely move north. Most move west across the Pacific Ocean without hitting California.
It is not clear where the hurricane will make landfall, but officials expect it to weaken by the time it nears the U.S. Rains are expected in interior regions by Saturday, and at the coast on Sunday, continuing into early next week as the storm moves north.
Hilary will be the first tropical storm to hit Southern California in 84 years, since “El Cordonazo” in 1939, before the contemporary naming conventions of storms began. The last hurricane to make landfall in Southern California arrived in 1858.
Volunteers with West Orange County Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) load sandbags for local residents to pick up ahead of anticipated high surf, strong winds and flooding from the approaching Hurricane Hilary in Seal Beach, California, on Friday, Aug. 18, 2023. As Hurricane Hilary continues its march toward Southern California, officials have issued an unprecedented tropical storm watch for the region. The watch is in effect for much of southwestern California, from the San Diego deserts to the San Bernardino County mountains and onto Catalina Island, something the National Hurricane Center said is a first for this area. A tropical storm watch indicates that tropical storm conditions are possible meaning more than 39 mph sustained winds within 48 hours, according to the hurricane center. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
A homeowner picks up sand bags from West Orange County Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) in Seal Beach, California, on Friday, Aug. 18, 2023. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
