© The Weather ChannelProjected path of Hurricane Hilary
Hurricane Hilary grew rapidly to Category 4 strength off Mexico's Pacific coast, with it set to lash the south west of the US with heavy rain by the weekend.
The National Hurricane Center said Hilary's maximum sustained winds had risen to 140mph at midnight and was expected to intensify through Friday morning.
No tropical storm has made landfall in Southern California since September 25, 1939, according to the NWS. World War II had started just 24 days earlier.
Areas such as Palm Springs could see up to four inches of rain, marking 20 times its average rainfall during August and would almost double the total rainfall it received in the past calendar year, the Desert Sun reported.
Town like Thermal could see up to six inches, while the San Jacinto Mountains could see anywhere from seven to nine inches.
Locations across the San Diego area are offering free sand and sandbags to help prepare in coastal areas, according to Fox 5.
© CBS Los AngelesAugust 17, 2023: Up and down Southern California, workers were preparing the beaches to try and handle the intense waters
Hilary was centered about 445 miles south of Los Cabos on the southern tip of the Baja peninsula.
It was moving west-northwest at 14 miles per hour, but was expected to take a more northward heading in the coming days.
The hurricane center said that as Hilary moves onto or brushes the Baja peninsula, it could possibly survive briefly as a tropical storm or tropical depression and cross the US border.
'Rainfall impacts from Hilary within the Southwestern United States are expected to peak this weekend into Monday,' the hurricane center said. 'Flash, urban, and arroyo flooding is possible with the potential for significant impacts.'
The area potentially affected by heavy rainfall could stretch from Bakersfield, California, to Yuma, Arizona, as well as some parts of southern Nevada.
The outlook for excessive rainfall in Southern California stretches from Sunday to Tuesday, according to the Los Angeles weather office.
© Associated PressThis satellite image taken at 10:50am EDT on Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023, and provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shows Hurricane Hilary off the Pacific coast of Mexico
The Mexican government said a weakened Hilary might hit the coast Sunday night between the cities of Playas de Rosarito and Ensenada, in Baja California state.
Meanwhile, the city of Yuma was preparing Thursday by providing residents with a self-serve sandbag filling station.
The sandbag station will be stocked with sand and empty bags for self-filling while supplies last. Residents were allowed five sandbags per vehicle.
The storm would be the third to hit the California coast in the last century.
Hurricane Nora in 1997 after it was downgraded to a tropical storm and the Long Beach tropical storm that made landfall near San Pedro in 1939.
No tropical cyclone has ever made landfall in California at hurricane intensity in recorded history.
WAKE UP boys and girls, as I've mentioned, 2023 and the shit is about to hit the proverbial FAN.