Hilary’s storm vortex can be seen southwest of Mexico in the satellite image from Thursday evening, with the Baja California Peninsula sticking down in the upper part of the image. The storm has been upgraded to a category 3 hurricane and is expected to hit northwestern Mexico and southern USA this weekend. The eye of the storm was located 700 kilometers south of Los Cabos, the southernmost tourist destination on the Baja California Peninsula, on Friday morning Swedish time. The exact path of the storm is uncertain, but if it reaches California, it will be the first time since 1939 that a tropical storm of this magnitude has reached the southern parts of the state, according to the US National Weather Service. Hilary was upgraded to category 3 on the five-level hurricane scale on Thursday local time and is expected to be classified as category 4 before making landfall. According to some forecasts, tourist destinations such as Palm Springs could receive rainfall equivalent to several years’ worth of precipitation in just a day. The effects of the rain from Hilary in southwestern United States are expected to peak during the weekend and Monday, according to the National Hurricane Center. Flash floods and extensive flooding are feared. Like several other parts of the world, North America has already been severely affected by the climate crisis this summer, with extreme heat in many areas and devastating fires, including in Canada.
