New satellite photos from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration show the telltale cloud swirl of Hurricane Hilary approaching Southern California.
This image of the storm was taken on Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. PST:
Hurricane Hilary (bottom right) began to gather strength as it approached California.
(CSU/CIRA & NOAA)
The image shows the storm in the bottom right corner gathering strength southeast of Baja California.
The next image was taken from the same angle on Thursday at 3:30 p.m. PST:
Hurricane Hilary approached Baja California on Thursday afternoon.
(CSU/CIRA & NOAA)
By Thursday afternoon, the eye of the storm had become more visible as it approached Baja California.
The final image was taken Friday at 1 p.m. PST:
Hurricane Hilary gained strength and began to pass over Baja California Sur on Friday.
(CSU/CIRA & NOAA)
By Friday, the storm continued its northwest march toward landfall in California.
The images above were processed by Regional and Mesoscale Meteorology Branch and Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere at Colorado State University, and curated by Maxar..
When will the hurricane hit California?
The storm, currently defined as a Category 4 hurricane, is expected to weaken before it hits Southern California late Sunday or early Monday as a tropical storm, with winds expected to be milder by the time the storm arrives.
Significant rain in dry areas will likely bring serious flood risks, experts say.
Has a hurricane or tropical storm hit California before?
No hurricane has ever made landfall in California. A tropical storm has not hit the state since 1939.
Last September, Tropical Storm Kay nearly made landfall over the state and brought some rains.
At the time, UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain wrote in his blog, Weather West, that “seeing intact tropical cyclones this far north and east along the Pacific Coast of North America is quite rare.”
“There are only a couple of other examples in living memory in which tropical storm or greater strength storms have gotten this close to SoCal,” he wrote.
This page will be updated as newer satellite photos are made available.
This story originally appeared on LA Times
