National Weather Service Details 'Life-Threatening' Hurricane Hilary: 'Historic Amounts Of Rainfall'

okay good morning everybody this is Mike Brennan here at the National Hurricane Center it's just after 8 30 a.m Pacific time on Saturday morning here's our uh bringing you an update here on Hurricane Hillary which is now approaching the Baja California Peninsula uh maximum sustained winds this morning are around 125 miles per hour and Hillary has picked up speed moving North Northwest at 16 miles per hour currently centered about 740 miles south southeast of San Diego California you can already see impacts from Hillary spreading northward through the Baja California Peninsula and into the southwestern U.S you see these cold Cloud tops as this tropical moisture surges northward we're already seeing rainfall spread into the southwestern United States here on the radar image you can see places like Yuma east of Palm Springs even spreading up towards the Las Vegas area and this is just a preview of what's to come as a very dangerous rainfall situation and flooding situation is going to unfold in the southwestern United States over the next 24 to 36 hours and that is our most important key message for Hillary is that preparations for flooding impacts in the southwestern United States need to be completed today today is going to be your last day to get ready we're already starting to see that rainfall increase but the rain rates and the heavier rainfall is going to really move in as we get into later today and overnight tonight and into Sunday and even lingering into portions of Monday and we are looking at the potential for historic amounts of rainfall especially in the desert areas to the east of the Southern California Metro areas Los Angeles and San Diego we could see rainfall totals approaching the rainfall amounts that some of these areas see in an entire year that could fall in less than a day and a very high rainfall rates could lead to you know life-threatening and and potentially catastrophic flooding in portions of these areas and the areas we're most concerned about are the areas to the east of Los Angeles and San Diego into the mountains of Southern California the Inland Empire places like Riverside County San Bernardino County Inland portions of even San Diego County Los Angeles County in this pink area that's the area where we have a high risk of flash flooding over the next couple of days and the greatest risk is going to be from Sunday a morning into Monday morning but that risk is going to start even later today and in these red areas that includes places like Las Vegas up into Southern Nevada Los Angeles and San Diego themselves that's where we have a moderate risk of flash flooding so anywhere in these areas could see significant flooding and again potentially historic flash flooding and that includes areas that include Interstate 8 Interstate 10 moving east west across Southern California this is a there's a potential for mudslides debris flows road closures especially in mountainous areas are all on the table during this event what we're looking at here in terms of the rainfall totals is widespread rainfall amounts of three to six inches across portions of Southern California into Southern Nevada we could see isolated amounts as high as 10 inches and that rain is going to fall in some cases very quickly and hit that hard desert floor and run off very fast and that's what could lead to that very Dairy dangerous flash flooding and we have flash flood watches in effect for everywhere you see in green here almost the entire state of Nevada Western Arizona all all of Southeastern California even up into portions of Southern of Southwestern Utah as the Moisture Surge associated with Hillary pushes up into the southwestern United States one thing I want to cover a couple of quick definitions so if you live in an area and you receive a flash flood warning that means that dangerous flooding is happening or is going to happen soon that means you're going to want to stay in your home if you're in an area that you know you might need to move to Higher Ground that might be in time to do so if you're asked to evacuate but otherwise you want to stay at home and not not be out in those conditions if we get to the situation where there's exceptionally rare life-threatening flash flooding you will have a flash flood emergency issued and that will alert through a wireless emergency alert on your phone and this is means there's a potential for catastrophic damage and this is a life-threatening situation especially if you get that into a flash flood emergency you don't want to attempt to travel in those areas unless you're fleeing to Higher Ground to get to a safe place but again know today whether you live in a flood prone area and know how you're going to get out if you're asked to do so by local officials otherwise check on your friends and family do everything you need to do to get ready you're not going to want to be out and about especially at night tonight and overnight into Sunday morning and during the day Sunday is going to be exceptionally dangerous to be moving around in portions of Southern California beyond the risk of rainfall which is our most most significant concern we are going to see winds from Hillary the wind field associated with Hillary right now the orange area shows the extent of tropical storm force winds which are starting to move into portions of the Baja California Peninsula we have hurricane force winds near the center and those are likely to move onshore of Baja California near Punta Eugenia later today and tonight you do see the risk of tropical storm conditions all the way up northward through the Gulf of California and we have a tropical storm warning also in effect for Southern California including Los Angeles and San Diego as we expect the center of Hillary to move near the west coast of the Baja California Peninsula early Sunday and into Southern California by Sunday afternoon and Sunday evening however a reminder that the rainfall and the winds are going to occur well in advance of the time of the track of the Center of Hillary and everywhere you see in red here including Los Angeles San Diego Palm Springs Santa Ana these are all areas that are under a tropical storm warning so somewhere in this area we're expecting to see tropical storm conditions with sustained winds of 39 miles per hour or greater higher wind gusts and we're especially concerned about the winds in the mountainous areas where those wind gusts will be potentially even higher the arrival time of those tropical storm force winds into those areas will be during the morning to daytime hours on Sunday so again I just want to wrap up here by reminding you this is today is the day to get to your safe place get your get your supplies ready check on Friends relative neighbors anybody who's going to need some help weathering the the impacts of Hillary and reminder during a flooding event if you're in a safe place where you're not going to flood you want to stay home stay inside move to Higher Ground if you're asked to do so you don't want to be out driving in flood waters in a vehicle or on foot or crossing flood waters on foot you can't tell how deep the water is especially at night so please be safe please stay tuned have trusted ways to get information during the next 24 to 36 hours have the wireless emergency alerts turned on on your phone have a NOAA Weather Radio download other information stay tuned to your trusted sources through your local media and listen to any emergency advice given by your local officials so please stay tuned for more information from the National Hurricane Center thanks for joining us I'm Mike Brennan

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Length: 6min 30sec (390 seconds)

Published: Sat Aug 19 2023