Tropical Storm Hilary Makes Landfall, Drenches Southern California

Tropical Storm Hilary, the first tropical storm to hit California since 1997, is moving inland across southern California this evening with drenching rains. Hilary remains a potent storm that will pose a dangerous flood threat to the Southwest through Monday.
  
As of 11 p.m. PDT, Tropical Storm Hilary was located near 36.1 N, 118.1 W. This places the storm about 75 miles northeast of Bakersfield, CA. With maximum sustained winds of 40 mph, the storm is moving quickly to the north-northwest at 28 mph. Its minimum central pressure is 1003 mb or 29.62 inches. 
  
A Tropical Storm Warning remains in place for the southern California coast from the Mexican border to Point Mugu, as well as Catalina Island. This includes the coasts of Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties. In addition, it includes the Anaheim and San Diego metro areas, the Interstate 15 corridor from San Diego to San Bernardino, and the San Gabriel and San Bernardino mountains. 
  
The government of Mexico has discontinued all Tropical Storm Warnings.

  
The combination of a large ridge of high pressure in the central U.S. and an upper-level low along the West Coast will force Hilary to move northward through California into the Southwest tonight. Ultimately, the upper-level low will merge with Hilary’s remnant low as it advances through the Golden State, reducing it to a powerful rain-and-wind storm across the West.  

  
That said, Hilary is likely to be an unprecedented storm for the region. The dry terrain cannot handle heavy rainfall like the East Coast can, as it will run off quickly in flash flooding. With heavy rainfall on the order of 3 to 6 inches likely with locally up to 10 inches across the Inland Empire and Mojave Desert - some areas are likely to receive more rain from the storm than they typically see in a year – the potential exists to turn washes into raging rivers that will sweep away everything in its path. Flood Watches stretch from Arizona and California to Utah, Nevada, Oregon and Idaho. 
  
Continue to follow the track of Tropical Storm Hilary on WeatherBug and follow our stories for the latest information as the storm takes aim at southern California.