Hurricane Hilary is, as of 5 PM Friday, a category 4 major hurricane,.
It's also moving toward California.
Fortunately, the storm will weaken as it encounters cool water of the coast of the Baja Peninsula, and will be a tropical storm by the time it hits California.
This is still highly unusual.
A Tropical Storm Watch is in effect for San Diego, Orange, and Los Angeles Counties for the first time in history.
That watch does not extend into Kern County, but we're still expecting big impacts from the storm, mainly in the form of heavy rain.
The first rain from Hilary will arrive in Kern on Saturday in the form of scattered showers and storms, mainly in eastern Kern.
Most of the rain will arrive on Sunday, and last into Sunday night.
Sunday will also bring gusty winds to our desert areas, with winds over 40 miles per hour possible.
Lingering showers are possible on Monday.
Through Monday, rain totals will be very high all across Kern.
Broadly speaking, Valley locations will pick up 1-2" of rain, with mountain and desert areas picking up 2-4" of rain.
There could even be some isolated spots that exceed 4".
That is an incredible amount of rain for Kern County, especially for summer, and flooding is likely, especially in our mountain and desert areas.
The heavy rain means that rockslides and mudslides are possible, too.
A Flood Watch is in effect for most of Kern County Saturday through Monday.
Given the historic rainfall potential, it's best to prepare for the storm now.
Be ready to evacuate if your area floods, and have an emergency kit handy.
The emergency kit should have things like food, water, medications, and change of clothes, and a charged cell phone.
Of course, keep a close eye on the weather forecast, and have a way to get emergency alerts.
