# Hurricane Hilary on path toward Southern California **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 17, 2023, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-hilary-on-path-toward-southern-california/988725 "2023-08-17T14:54:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2023, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-hilary-on-path-toward-southern-california/988725/41 "2023-08-19T04:11:53Z")
Mudslides and collapses are a real threat, but the storm is likely to hit on the other side of the mountains, so probably not going to be an issue in San Diego in any event ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2023, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-hilary-on-path-toward-southern-california/988725/42 "2023-08-19T04:53:23Z")
My wife is in north San Diego county this week. We talked about it, and I think the biggest dangers will be driving if there is flooding (possible), and having food that doesn’t require cooking if there is a power outage (much more likely). Not much of a mudslide threat where she is. As long as she stays home, hopefully it’s more of an inconvenience than a real danger. We’ll see soon enough. I’ll tell her to top off the gas tank in the car as well. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2023, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-hilary-on-path-toward-southern-california/988725/43 "2023-08-19T05:19:16Z")
im told it’s gonna hit the high desert Sunday …of course, we have a long line of boxes out back still from the move We did get two slight downpours Wednesday of about 15 minutes each ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2023, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-hilary-on-path-toward-southern-california/988725/44 "2023-08-19T15:55:34Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > I was watchin’ the weather today, and they plotted an estimated track. It seemed to terminate in my back yard. Near as I can tell, the current track goes directly over my house. Sunday could be…interesting. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2023, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-hilary-on-path-toward-southern-california/988725/45 "2023-08-19T17:50:37Z")
I wonder if the Navy Ships are headed out. It is usually safer at sea than in port for a full Hurricane. Especially the carriers. North island (Coronado) is less protected than 32nd Street. * * * * * * OK, apparently they are heading out. > **[USS Theodore Roosevelt, other Navy ships leaving California bases to dodge...](https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/uss-theodore-roosevelt-other-navy-ships-leaving-coronado-base-to-dodge-hurricane-hilary/3288106/)** > > The Navy set plans to move about a dozen carriers and ships ported at Naval Bases Coronado, San Diego and Point Loma out to sea. It also plans to park all of its aircraft based in hangars in Coronado and El Centro. So the Navy believes it is going to be pretty bad. * * * * * * Just thinking, this might be the most powerful fleet to pull out of San Diego ever as the last Hurricane was in 1939 and I’m not sure there was even one carrier there at the time. But I believe one at most. Though it was the Enterprise (CV-6) if she was in port. I’m pretty sure the main base was Destroyed in 1939, no Cruisers or Battleships homeported there. * * * * * * A good chunk of San Diego, especially the Imperial Beach area are not very high. A Storm Surge is going to do a lot of damage. The western part of I8 , like the SeaWorld area will also flood badly. Mission Beach. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2023, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-hilary-on-path-toward-southern-california/988725/46 "2023-08-19T18:11:53Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > A good chunk of San Diego, especially the Imperial Beach are is not very high. A Storm Surge is going to do a lot of damage. My understanding is that, for a hurricane or typhoon in the Northern Hemisphere, the worst storm surge happens in the right-front (northeastern) quadrant – winds in a northern hurricane blow in a counter-clockwise pattern around the storm, and when that quadrant approaches land, its winds are blowing onshore from the ocean (such as when a hurricane traveling to the west or northwest hits the Atlantic coast of Florida, or the Carolinas), and pushing water into shore. Based on the predicted track of Hilary, Southern California is going to be in the storm’s left-front quadrant as it approaches, and the winds that will be hitting the coastal area will be blowing in from inland. So, it might be that the surge may not be as bad as it would be if the storm were passing San Diego from further west. > **[Why is the right side of a hurricane more dangerous?](https://www.foxweather.com/learn/right-side-hurricane-dangerous)** > > Hurricanes are dangerous to hundreds of miles in every direction. Storm 101 explains why winds and storm surge are more intense on the right side of the storm. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2023, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-hilary-on-path-toward-southern-california/988725/47 "2023-08-19T18:14:39Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Based on the predicted track of Hilary, Southern California is going to be in the storm’s left-front quadrant as it approaches, and the winds that will be hitting the coastal area will be blowing in from inland. So, it might be that the surge may not be as bad as it would be if the storm were passing San Diego from further west. That’s hopeful. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2023, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-hilary-on-path-toward-southern-california/988725/48 "2023-08-19T18:21:32Z")
In the past 75 years i doubt we have had So Cal rain in the summer a dozen times. Maybe twice it was measurable. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2023, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-hilary-on-path-toward-southern-california/988725/49 "2023-08-19T18:29:54Z")
Around here that was a week ago Thursday. ---
**Author:** ![JaneDoe42](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/janedoe42/32/14104_2.png) [@JaneDoe42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JaneDoe42)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2023, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-hilary-on-path-toward-southern-california/988725/50 "2023-08-19T20:37:31Z")
Flights are being cancelled at Sky Harbor in Phoenix. > **[Hurricane Hilary updates: Sky Harbor sees flight cancellations, delays](https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-weather/2023/08/18/hurricane-hilary-rain-storm-updates-arizona/70623192007/)** > > Hurricane Hilary is advancing toward California and Arizona, with the potential to bring storms and flooding. Here's what you need to know. ---
**Author:** ![zbuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zbuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zbuzz)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2023, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-hilary-on-path-toward-southern-california/988725/51 "2023-08-19T23:45:28Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > A good chunk of San Diego, especially the Imperial Beach area are not very high. A Storm Surge is going to do a lot of damage. The western part of I8 , like the SeaWorld area will also flood badly. Mission Beach. The San Diego River is famous for routinely flooding out Mission Valley during even regular rains. In Imperial Beach, it’s not just the physical damage from storm flooding they have to worry about, it’s all the raw sewage runoff from Tijuana that will inevitably be a part of it. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2023, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-hilary-on-path-toward-southern-california/988725/52 "2023-08-20T00:23:44Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > When the hilltop slides down the side of the hill due to heavy rainfall taking all the hilltop houses with it I thought that was a California thing. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2023, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-hilary-on-path-toward-southern-california/988725/53 "2023-08-20T00:28:54Z")
The Salton Sea area could have some interesting experiences in the days to come. Bet the desert will bloom like it’s never done in recent history. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2023, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-hilary-on-path-toward-southern-california/988725/54 "2023-08-20T01:21:49Z")
> [@SCAdian](#): > > I thought that was a California thing. It is. The person whose house we’re discussing lives in / near San Diego. Although hill slides can happen anywhere it rains harder and faster than the steep soil can absorb. Plenty of that in the tropics. China is quickly becoming famous for amazing amounts of slides due to, shall we say, less than thorough attention to proper soil engineering. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2023, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-hilary-on-path-toward-southern-california/988725/55 "2023-08-20T01:45:49Z")
Just got off the phone with my sister in Thousand Oaks. She lives just north of 101, about eight miles from the ocean. She said the stores were jammed but she’s not particularly worried. “We get Santa Ana winds here, so what’s another 70 mph storm,” and the hillside behind her home has an excellent, strongly reinforced retaining wall. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2023, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-hilary-on-path-toward-southern-california/988725/56 "2023-08-20T02:40:17Z")
Daughter is in Ventura County. She says they have upgraded the warnings for her area and have voluntary evacuation from the harbor area. Most of the impacts are expected up in the mountains, but the urban areas could be impacted. She lives a mile or so from the Santa Clara river. Also, Catalina island is expecting power outage for a few days, so they are asking most people to leave. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2023, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-hilary-on-path-toward-southern-california/988725/57 "2023-08-20T03:35:11Z")
It’s supposed to hit us here in the Inland Empire starting around 3am. Let’s see if I have power in the morning. Everything is charged, including the power packs. The “fun time” will be mid-afternoon, when we are supposed to get the brunt of whatever is left. Flood warnings in all the upper areas of town and everything in and around and under the El Dorado Fire burn scar. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2023, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-hilary-on-path-toward-southern-california/988725/58 "2023-08-20T04:36:25Z")
> [@Tatterdemalion](#): > > I hadn’t been aware that hurricanes were a thing in California. They arent. But once in a while we get a Hurricane that goes down to a Tropical Storm. This juuust might still be the lowest level Hurricane when it hits. 1939 I think? > [@peccavi](#): > > So probably not exactly a hurricane hitting the west coast as implied by the headline in the OP’s link. That’s the bay area. The storms landfall is SoCall, and it might just technically be a hurricane when it hits. But it will bring high winds and up to 7 inches of rain in a short period. We need the rain, it is Fire Season. They have asked tourists to leave Catalina. Not allowing new boats to dock. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2023, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-hilary-on-path-toward-southern-california/988725/59 "2023-08-20T09:59:13Z")
We had a pt in the ER tonight that might have been flown out for care, but everything is grounded. ---
**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2023, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-hilary-on-path-toward-southern-california/988725/60 "2023-08-20T14:19:59Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > The storms landfall is SoCall, and it might just technically be a hurricane when it hits. But it will bring high winds and up to 7 inches of rain in a short period. Well, it’s 7 AM here in SoCal and its pretty much dead calm with some sprinkles. The forecast is for winds between of 25-30 mph this afternoon and about 2.5" of rain. I’m not sure that even qualifies as a tropical storm, let alone “technically a hurricane”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-hilary-on-path-toward-southern-california/988725.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-hilary-on-path-toward-southern-california/988725.md?page=4)