Hurricane Hilary swirls off the coast of Mexico as smoke covers the central United States. | Image: Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere at Colorado State and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (CSU / CIRA & NOAA)
The National Hurricane Center issued a tropical storm watch for southern California today as Hurricane Hilary barrels toward the US and Mexico. This is the first time this kind of alert has been issued for sunny SoCal, which is more prone to drought and fire this time of year than hurricanes.
A tropical storm watch means “that tropical storm conditions are possible within the watch area, generally within 48 hours,” according to the National Hurricane Center. The watch is in place from the Mexico-California border to the Los Angeles-Orange county line as well as for Catalina and Santa Barbara Islands.
There are…