(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Tropical Storm Watch issued for portions of southern California - for the first time ever [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-08-18 Hurricane Hilary, currently off the southern coast of Mexico, has strengthened to a near Cat 5 hurricane at sustained winds of 145 mph. It will make landfall in the Baja Peninsula and traverse southern CA on Sunday. Hurricane Hilary is expected to strengthen further today before entering cooler waters and weakening as it travels northwards. Primary threats are coastal flooding and heavy rainfall across the southwest (southern CA, NV, UT, and western AZ), including desert areas, and tropical storm winds in southern CA and the Baja Peninsula, Saturday through Monday. A Tropical Storm Watch has been issued for coastal regions of southern California — from San Diego to Long Beach. This is the first time NHC has issued a watch for that region. Hilary is quite a large hurricane with its tropical-storm-force winds extending up to 288 mi from the center. FORECAST POSITIONS AND MAX WINDS (issued at 11:00 a.m. EDT Aug 18) - INIT 18/1500Z 17.9N 111.4W 125 KT 145 MPH 12H 19/0000Z 19.2N 112.5W 130 KT 150 MPH 24H 19/1200Z 21.3N 113.6W 115 KT 130 MPH 36H 20/0000Z 23.7N 114.4W 100 KT 115 MPH 48H 20/1200Z 26.8N 115.2W 85 KT 100 MPH 60H 21/0000Z 30.4N 116.4W 65 KT 75 MPH 72H 21/1200Z 35.2N 117.4W 45 KT 50 MPH...INLAND 96H 22/1200Z...DISSIPATED Rainfall forecast estimates have gone up and moved further east. Rain will arrive on Saturday, well before the eye of the Hurricane. Satellite imagery of the huge storm - x Hurricane #Hilary exploded over the past 24 hours and is now a huge Category 4 storm with a well-defined eye traveling north, as seen in this #GOESWest 1-minute IR imagery. NHC updates at https://t.co/Vn8mtroypV Visit our #HurricaneHilary dashboard at https://t.co/VfCePXAfED pic.twitter.com/aXKtsFIlb3 — UW-Madison CIMSS (@UWCIMSS) August 18, 2023 An Air Force AF300 hurricane hunter aircraft is on its way from Biloxi, MS, which will make measurements inside the hurricane. A few weather firsts for southern CA :( x To sum up Hilary's rarity: ➡️ First time NHC has ever issued a Tropical Storm Watch in California ➡️ First WPC excessive rainfall high risk in the southern CA desert ➡️ Potential first tropical storm landfall in CA since 1939 This has potential to be a high-end event for CA. pic.twitter.com/oNWmSwHGGS — Tomer Burg (@burgwx) August 18, 2023 The Atlantic hurricane season is revving up too. x The switch is about to be flipped in the Atlantic tropics with multiple areas of interest w/potential to develop further. Texas may get a tropical storm next week. Caribbean system is a big concern. Ensemble solutions (model multiple simulations) highlight areas of interest… pic.twitter.com/ddlg3BsEAT — Ryan Maue (@RyanMaue) August 18, 2023 Atlantic hurricanes normally sharply increase from late August into September. This season is expected to be above normal in the number of hurricanes — www.noaa.gov/… Hurricanes, floods, extreme heat, wildfires, drought — we have it all this year. And we know why. x Extreme weather is "the new norm." WMO has new roundup of yet more heatwaves, national and station temperature records, devastating wildfires, as well as major flood impacts from hurricane #Hilary #StateofClimate #EarlyWarningsForAll 🔗https://t.co/kZQQToZo6y Map @ECMWF pic.twitter.com/C6mgj0BzQ6 — World Meteorological Organization (@WMO) August 18, 2023 Epilogue Let’s keep an eye on these storms. For those in the path, the time for preparations is now. These events won’t be the last as earth’s climate is already under stress with the greenhouse gases we have been pumping into the atmosphere for decades. Also, let’s also keep educating the public about climate change and global warming, that it is caused by human activity and increased greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, most of it contributed by fossils fuels, and what we are seeing this year in terms of heat waves, wildfires, floods and droughts are a mild version of what lies ahead. And let’s keep emphasizing that if republicans take control of Washington, then we can pretty much kiss earth goodbye, since these scoundrels have plans ready to undo the progress we have made so far on renewal energy and to turn government into a slave of the fossil fuel industry. P.S. See this earlier diary Hurricane Hilary headed towards California for some more info on the development of Hurricane Hilary. 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