People in the Southwestern U.S. need to be prepared for Hilary
Posted by
Chris in Tampa on 8/19/2023, 11:00 pm
These areas are not really familiar with tropical weather in modern history. I think a lot of people are going to be caught off guard. Hopefully not, hopefully it turns out better, but we won't know until after the storm passes. So you have to prepare for the worst. It's not just hurricanes that are bad, tropical storms can be very dangerous too. Heavy rain in these areas will cause some flooding, it's only a matter of where and how much.
Do not go out in the storm. Be careful of falling trees, such as if you go out to walk your dog (be very careful if you have no other choice but to go with them) or are just under a large tree even inside the house. Don't be in that part of the house during the storm and even after until you have a chance to inspect it. Especially if it is diseased or already leaning. It's too late to do any tree trimming.
Bring in stuff that could blow around. This isn't the greatest concern though, it's more the rain and the impacts from it. But if you are at a higher elevation, you may see some high wind gusts that you rarely experience. So be extra careful in the mountains and bring what you can in.
If the power goes out, don't use a generator indoors. It can't even be in a garage with the door open. You need it fully outside. People very often die in storms like this, or just after the storm, of carbon monoxide because they have a generator that isn't very well ventilated. Never use candles. Use a flashlight. Find them and batteries now. Charge your phone. You can always use it as a flashlight. Hopefully you have some extra food around. Depending on where cell towers are, I guess some at high elevations could see some impacts, but maybe not. Cell service might be okay.
It's just hard to know what impacts from rain will be in a particular area. If you are familiar with bad scenarios in your area with rain in the past, consider that it can happen again or worse.
But a lot of people might not be familiar because it just doesn't happen often. Not a tropical storm, but really heavy rain. I don't know the area. There is a lot of varied terrain, from desert to mountains. The NHC doesn't specifically mention mud slides in the current public advisory, but I would add that to the list.
Radar:
https://mrms.nssl.noaa.gov/qvs/product_viewer/index.php?time_mode=update&zoom=6&clon=-114&clat=34&product_type=crefls&product=CREF
Just hope for the best, but prepare for a lot of flooding in areas. If you live along a creek or river, maybe stay with friends or family for a few days that are in another location.
It's just such a populated area. If things turn out as expected, or worse, have some patience as it might take time for resources to help some areas.
Jeff Masters and Bob Henson had a blog post today:
https://yaleclimateconnections.org/topic/eye-on-the-storm/
They have a great post about the amount of rain forecast. Some areas could get more rain in this period than they get in a period of a year or more. |
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In this thread:
Hurricane Hilary in East Pacific forecast to impact Mexico & Southwestern U.S. - T.S. watches in Southern California -
Chris in Tampa,
8/18/2023, 2:32 pm- rain stretching from Baja to Canada - cypresstx, 8/20/2023, 12:02 pm
- People in the Southwestern U.S. need to be prepared for Hilary - Chris in Tampa, 8/19/2023, 11:00 pm
- she is definitely moving moisture up the Baha - cypresstx, 8/19/2023, 7:30 pm
- direct links to QPF on newer WPC site - cypresstx, 8/18/2023, 8:24 pm
- I got almost two and a half inches of rain yesterday - Chris in Tampa, 8/18/2023, 3:23 pm
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