Hurricane Hilary bears down on Baja Mexico & California
Hurricane Hilary formed in the eastern Pacific and is on track to deliver a blow to Mexico's Baja peninsula at the weekend and southern California thereafter.
“Hilary has the potential to bring significant impacts to the Baja California Peninsula and portions of the southwestern United States this weekend and early next week,” forecasters at the National Hurricane Center warned.
At last measure, Hilary was boasting maximum sustained wind speeds of 75 mph (120 km/h) while heading WNW at 300 degrees at 13 mph (20km/h).
“The environment is ripe for Hilary to rapidly intensify during the next couple of days,” they added, citing negligible wind shear, very warm waters and “plentiful” moisture in the air.
Researchers claim a “high degree of confidence” in the storm path, but warn that the path's oblique angle to the coast makes it “nearly impossible” to say if the storm will stay offshore or move over the peninsula before reaching the southwestern United States.
Heavy rainfall associated with Hilary may produce areas of flash flooding and result in landslides over portions of the Baja California peninsula from late Friday into late Sunday.
Did you get value from this story? Sign up to our free daily newsletters and get stories like this sent straight to your inbox.
