First-ever Tropical Storm Warning issued for all of Southern California
For the first time ever, a Tropical Storm Warning was issued by the National Weather Service Friday night for all of the communities in Southern California.
The NWS said Friday night that most cities in Los Angeles were under the tropical storm warning, including Malibu, Pacific Palisades, Beverly Hills, Compton, Culver City, Downey, Hollywood, Palos Verdes, LAX, Long Beach, Redondo Beach, Santa Monica, Torrance and Norwalk.
The NWS added the warning extended to Orange County Coastal Areas, Orange County Inland Areas and the Santa Ana Mountains and Foothills.
By 9 p.m. all Southern California communities, including Riverside County, San Bernardino County and San Diego County, and parts of Ventura County were under the warning.
A Tropical Storm Warning means winds of 39 to 73 mph are expected in the area within 36 hours.
The warning comes after Hurricane Hilary strengthened to a category 4 hurricane Thursday. The hurricane is expected to hit Southern California with heavy rainfall as early as this weekend after it makes its way up Mexico's Baja California peninsula.
Forecasters said the storm is expected to produce 3 to 6 inches of rainfall, with maximum amounts of 10 inches, across portions of Baja California through Sunday night, with the possibility of flash flooding.
There will likely be "damaging wind gusts," especially at higher elevations, in the area, and swells along the coast, Greg Postel, a hurricane and storm specialist at the Weather Channel, told CBS News.
The storm, which is not expected to be a hurricane by the time it reaches California, is set to impact the southwestern U.S. with heavy rainfall starting Friday through early next week, "peaking on Sunday and Monday," according to the National Hurricane Center.
"It is rare — indeed nearly unprecedented in the modern record — to have a tropical system like this move through Southern California," Postel told CBS News.