Hello, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. Im fredericka witfield. The southwestern u. S. Is bracing for potentially catastrophic flooding as hurricane hilary churns off the pacific. We just learned moments ago that the storm has weakened just a bit to a category 3 storm with 125 mile an hour winds. Its lashing mexico with strong winds and high waves right now. Forecasters warn it could dump more than a years worth of rain across parts of california, nevada and arizona. The storm is expected to weaken as it moves north, but the threat is so severe, a Tropical Storm watch has been issued for california, the first ever for that state. People there are trying to prepare as best they can. Cnn meteorologist Allison Chinchar is joining us. A new advisory has just been issued. While it may have been downgraded a little bit, thats still very threatening. Right. Keep in mind the weakening was forecast. We knew as it slid into cooler waters, this was going to happen. In terms of the fore
a new advisory has just been issued. while it may have been downgraded a little bit, that s still very threatening. right. keep in mind the weakening was forecast. we knew as it slid into cooler waters, this was going to happen. in terms of the forecast, it s doing exactly what we expected. right now winds are sustained at 125 miles per hour. that s a high-end category 3 storm, still a major hurricane at this time. forward movement has picked up speed to the north-northwest at 16 miles per hour. that is important because it s making its way faster, which means the impacts are arriving earlier. we re starting to see outer bands begin to spread rain into portions of southern california, nevada and western arizona, yuma over towards palm springs starting to see showers and thunderstorms. this storm will continue to weaken each more as it continues to slide into colder water and likely cross into southern california as a tropical storm. now, rain is going to be the