The National Hurricane Center has issued a tropical storm watch for southern California as Hurricane Hilary approaches the US and Mexico. This is the first time such an alert has been issued for the area, which is more prone to drought and fire than hurricanes. The watch is in place from the Mexico-California border to the Los Angeles-Orange county line, including Catalina and Santa Barbara Islands. Hilary has strengthened into a Category 4 hurricane with wind speeds near 145mph, and heavy rainfall is expected to cause rare and dangerous flooding in parts of Southern California and Nevada. The Eastern Pacific is unusually warm this season due to climate change and El Niño.
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