Less than a week after Hurricane Dora stirred up 60-mile-per-hour winds that spread some of the deadliest wildfires on Maui that the U.S. has seen in a century, Hurricane Hilary formed off the coast of Mexico and is expected to impact parts of the southwestern U.S. over the weekend. On Thursday morning, scientists officially classified the tropical storm as a hurricane and warned that it could make direct contact somewhere between Baja California, Mexico and San Diego, California, Axios reported. It is currently predicted to reach at least a Category 3 status — the same as Hurricane Katrina — and bring flooding rains and high winds as far as Nevada and Arizona.
Forecasters predict the hurricane will lose lots of its power and lower in category severity as it passes through cooler waters and approaches land. Still, it could bring a year's worth of rain to places like Palm Springs, California, or Phoenix, Arizona, most likely on Sunday or Monday. There have only been two tropical storms that have come within 100 miles of San Diego, and it has been over 50 years since this occurred, according to meteorologist Kieran Bhatia, Ph.D. "[Hurricane] Hilary over SoCal would equate to a nearly unprecedented event and should be monitored closely," he tweeted.
