Photo: National Meteorological Service of Mexico / Courtesy
Hurricane Hilary, weakened to Category 2, continued to advance on Saturday along the Pacific coast of Baja California in Mexico and toward southern California in the United States and it could still cause heavy rain and dangerous flooding even after it faded.
Hillary is now a Category 2 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale, its extensive cloud bands maintain the probability of very strong to intense rains in the Baja California Peninsula and northwestern Mexico with gusts of wind in those regions and high waves in coastal areas.
Hillary could make landfall as a Category 1 hurricane on Sunday in Baja California, according to the map projected by the SMN, while on Monday it would enter US territory as a tropical storm.
In its most recent notice, the SMN reported that Hilary was 210 km west-southwest of Cabo San Lázaro, Baja California Sur, and 455 km south-southeast of Punta Eugenia, in the same state.
The National Meteorological Service (SMN) of Mexico forecast a first impact of the hurricane in Punta Eugenia, Isla Natividad and Isla Cedros in Baja California Sur, during the early hours of Sunday and a second impact during the day, in the vicinity of the municipality of San Quintín. In addition, a gradual acceleration in the movement of the system over Baja California is forecast.
The cyclone, which emerged on Wednesday as a tropical storm, is heading north-northwest with a speed of 28 kilometers per hour, sustained winds of 175 kilometers per hour and gusts of up to 215 kilometers per hour, according to the SMN.
The meteorological phenomenon will cause “intense” rains in Baja California, Baja California Sur, Sonora (coast) and Sinaloa (north coast); very heavy occasional rains in Nayarit, Jalisco, Zacatecas, Aguascalientes and Guanajuato; in addition to “strong punctual” rainfall in Chihuahua and Durango, according to the forecast for this Saturday at 15:15 GMT.
Baja California on pre-alert
Baja California authorities declared a state of pre-alert on Saturday, due to the magnitude with which it is expected to reach this territory that borders California, in the United States.
The governor of the state, Marina del Pilar Avila Olmeda, highlighted in a conference with the media that it is probable that when the hurricane reaches Baja California, “the emergency code will turn red, which means that importance and seriousness of life”.
He reported that Cedros Island, located in the Pacific Ocean 24 kilometers northwest of the state coast, It is where they are expected to have the greatest repercussions and damage, because it will be where the hurricane enters the Baja Californian territory.
“For this very reason, the Ensenada City Council and the Secretary of the Navy are already working, which is already ready, to come and supply food and all the necessary supplies for this island; the south of the state could also be affected and the cities, ”he said.
Given the imminent passage of the phenomenon, Avila Olmeda reported that 80 temporary shelters began to be installed throughout the state and administrative activities were partially suspended, while on Sunday they will be totally suspended and next Monday there will be no classes at any level of education in the state.
Likewise, the Secretary of the Navy and the Mexican Army reported that on Friday afternoon teams went out to the various risk areas of the state, to implement the DN-III-E Prevention Plan.
In Tijuana, where since Thursday the local authorities had previously declared a state of pre-alert, they also began to condition various sports units as temporary shelters.
Miguel Aguiñiga Rodríguez, Secretary of Tourism of the state, added that another of the effects that the passage of this hurricane will have on the state, it will be with the flights scheduled for this weekendsince from this Friday there were already some delays and they foresee that this situation will be complicated by Sunday.
With information from EFE
Keep reading:
– California faces its first major tropical storm in 84 years with Hilary
– Mexico warns about the impact of Hurricane Hilary on the Baja California peninsula
– Hilary is already a hurricane and maintains its trajectory heading towards southern California