The eye of the storm was on Friday morning Swedish time 700 kilometers south of Los Cabos, the southernmost tourist resort on the Baja California peninsula. Its path is uncertain, but if it reaches California, it will be the first time since 1939 that a tropical storm has reached the southern parts of the state, according to the US Weather Service NWS.
On Thursday local time, Hilary was upgraded to a Category 3 on the five-point hurricane scale, and is expected to upgrade to a Category 4 before the storm makes landfall.
According to some forecasts, tourist resorts such as Palm Springs can receive amounts of rain equivalent to several years’ worth of rainfall in just a few days.
“Rain effects from Hilary in the southwestern United States are expected to peak over the weekend and Monday,” writes the NHC hurricane center. “Flash floods and floods are feared and the effects could be extensive”.
Like many other parts of the world, North America has already been hit hard by the climate crisis this summer, with brutal heat in many places and devastating fires in Canada, among others.