Hurricane Hilary to bring major flooding risk to California

By Adrienne Vogt and Matt Meyer, CNN

Updated 12:30 p.m. ET, August 19, 2023

Hurricane Hilary, a Category 3 storm, is expected to bring “catastrophic and life-threatening flooding” to Mexico and parts of the southwestern United States.

The storm — which prompted a first-ever tropical storm warning for Southern California, including Los Angeles and San Diego — is now moving faster than originally forecast, meaning it's expected to impact the US earlier in the day Sunday. More than a year’s worth of rain could fall in areas of California, Nevada and Arizona.

If Hilary makes landfall in California as a tropical storm, it will be a rare occurrence – the first such storm there in nearly over 80 years.