Tag Archives: Hurricane in San Diego

Hurricane Hilary’s Aftermath

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Hilary visited Southern California all day on Sunday. I took a walk this morning to survey any damage and this is what I discovered…

Even though we had nearly three inches of rain, there was no flooding and it looks like my garden was able to drink in all that water. My plants were so thirsty!

The highest wind gust was about fifty mph, not enough to fell any trees or big branches. There’s a lot of cleanup from leaves, but no deck furniture was damaged.

I didn’t lose power like many others and I’m grateful for that.

I’m left with a bathtub of water which I’ll save for the garden since there’s no rain in the forecast.

Other parts of San Diego experienced far worse. There was extensive flooding and giant eucalyptus trees falling on houses. The mountains and the desert didn’t fare so well either, and it’s going to take a lot of cleanup to restore roads and infrastructure.

In the middle of the storm, there was a big earthquake in Ojai (near Ventura), along with clusters of decent-sized aftershocks. Social media coined a new word; hurriquake–which absolutely describes our crazy weather.

It’s back to normal now, but will always be another date for the history books; the day Hurricane Hilary came to town.
🌀1858
🌀1939
🌀2023

The Calm Before The Storm

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Last night’s sunset…

I’ve been getting calls and texts from the insurance company about filing claims about (future) storm damage, SDGE is calling and texting alerts about storm preparations and being ready for the power to go out, so I guess Hurricane Hilary is SERIOUS about visiting my little beachy town.

An emergency preparedness spokesperson said that we should not underestimate the impact of this storm, and called it possibly “the worst we’ve seen”.

If his prediction is correct, this beautiful sunset is going to be replaced by lots of sky water and high winds.

It’s supposed to start raining in the afternoon, so I better focus on removing a few more windchimes before the real action kicks off on Sunday.

Hurricane Hilary is Coming!

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A West Coast hurricane?

Crazy, right?

But look at the graphic because we in SoCal are in the CONE!!!

That’s all anyone is talking about around here.

The storm’s path will bring it across the Baja California peninsula into the southwestern United States over the weekend and into Monday.

Regardless of Hilary’s exact track, we’ll be on the lookout for excessive rain, flash flooding, and high surf.

The National Weather Service has issued a Day 3 high risk of excessive rainfall, up to seven inches in the desert and about three inches here on the coast.

Hurricane Hilary grew rapidly to Category 4 strength off Mexico’s Pacific coast on Friday and could reach Southern California as the first tropical storm there in 84 years.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Hilary had sustained winds near 145 mph and was expected to continue its rapid intensification through Friday before starting to weaken.

It will nevertheless still be a hurricane when it approaches Mexico’s Baja California peninsula on Saturday night and will approach Southern California on Sunday as a tropical storm. It will potentially cause “significant and rare impacts” including extensive flooding.

However, if the hurricane tracks just a bit differently, it will cause more extensive and significant coastal damage. Winds are expected to be 50-ish mph with 70 mph gusts.

No tropical storm has made landfall in Southern California since Sept. 25, 1939, and reaching far into the past, the only known hurricane to make actual contact was near San Diego in 1858 with 73 mph winds.

I guess it’s time to batten down the hatches. I’ve been doing some prep out in the garden like removing umbrellas, wind chimes, and any deck furniture light enough to be blown around. Tomorrow I’ll clear out the ditch up on the hill that’s full of debris so it’ll flow if there’s any accumulated rain and not flood the backyard. I have plenty of candles if the power goes out and my cell is always charged.

Knowing me, I’ll want to go for a walk to the beach in the rain, but I’m also aware that’s not a great idea.

The one and only time I experienced a hurricane was about twenty years ago when I visited my son and DIL who were in school on the east coast. We huddled together when the power went out and the house was shaking off its foundation from the strong winds. The next morning we went for a walk and surveyed the damage; trees down, electrical wires dangling and sparking, and debris everywhere. After that, we drove to the beach to look at the surf. Another memorable event with those guys, that’s for sure!