LOS ANGELES — Former Hurricane Hilary was actually no longer a tropical storm but essentially had the same impact when its destructive remnants entered California last August, according to a new National Hurricane Center report.
Damage from Hilary was estimated at $900 million in the United States. Three deaths were directly related to the storm, including two in Mexico and one that occurred in California when a woman was washed away in her home.
Hurricane Hilary moved north off Mexico’s Pacific coast and weakened to a tropical storm before making landfall in northern Baja California in Mexico, where its center became less defined as it encountered mountainous terrain and other atmospheric conditions, the report said.
A vehicle drives through a flooded street as Tropical Storm Hilary moves through the area on August 20, 2023 in Cathedral City, California. Southern California is under a first-ever tropical storm warning as Hilary impacts parts of California, Arizona and Nevada. All California state beaches have been closed in San Diego and Orange counties in preparation for the impacts from the storm which was downgraded from hurricane status. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
FILE – Long Beach lifeguards fill up sandbags for residents ahead of Hurricane Hilary, in Long Beach, Calif., on Aug. 19, 2023. Former Hurricane Hilary was actually no longer a tropical storm but essentially had the same impact when its destructive remnants entered California last August, according to a new National Hurricane Center report. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)
Surfers ride waves at Doheny State Park Beach in Dana Point, Calif., Sunday, Aug. 20, 2023. Tropical Storm Hilary swirled northward Sunday just off the coast of Mexico’s Baja California peninsula, no longer a hurricane but still carrying so much rain that forecasters said “catastrophic and life-threatening” flooding is likely across a broad region of the southwestern U.S. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Workers clean Devonshire St. in Northridge, of fallen pine needles following the storm brought in by Hurricane Hilary, on August 21, 2023. (Photo by Dean Musgrove, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
People stand above erosion where Aliso Creek empties into the ocean at Aliso Beach Park in Laguna Beach, CA on Monday, August 21, 2023. The effects of Hurricane Hilary were felt along the coast. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)
A vehicle drives through a flooded road as Tropical Storm Hilary moves through the area on August 20, 2023 in Palm Springs, California. Southern California is under a first-ever tropical storm warning as Hilary impacts parts of California, Arizona and Nevada. All California state beaches have been closed in San Diego and Orange counties in preparation for the impacts from the storm, which was downgraded from hurricane status. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
Workers attempt to unclog a drain on a flooded street as Tropical Storm Hilary moves through the area on August 20, 2023 in Rancho Mirage, California. Southern California is under a first-ever tropical storm warning as Hilary impacts parts of California, Arizona and Nevada. All California state beaches have been closed in San Diego and Orange counties in preparation for the impacts from the storm which was downgraded from hurricane status. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
A car is partially submerged in floodwaters as Tropical Storm Hilary moves through the area on August 20, 2023 in Cathedral City, California. Southern California is under a first-ever tropical storm warning as Hilary impacts parts of California, Arizona and Nevada. All California state beaches have been closed in San Diego and Orange counties in preparation for the impacts from the storm which was downgraded from hurricane status. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
A worker drags caution tape to block off Pico Boulevard after a tree fell, Sunday, Aug. 20, 2023, in Los Angeles. Tropical Storm Hilary swirled northward Sunday just off the coast of Mexico’s Baja California peninsula, no longer a hurricane but still carrying so much rain that forecasters said “catastrophic and life-threatening” flooding is likely across a broad region of the southwestern U.S.(AP Photo/Ryan Sun)
Workers with the City of Newport Beach pump storm water off the parking lot at the Balboa Pier in Newport Beach, CA on Monday, August 21, 2023. The effects of Hurricane Hilary were felt along the coast. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)
“As a result, the storm lost tropical characteristics and degenerated to a post-tropical cyclone over northern Baja California,” the new analysis said.
Persistent rain drenches Southern California anew, prompting more flood worries
At the same time, an area of low pressure to the northwest near the coast of Southern California quickly absorbed remnants of Hilary and the new system continued on over the southwestern U.S., according to the report released this month. Forecasters noted at the time that Hilary was becoming diffuse and difficult to track, and it was unclear if the low pressure area was Hilary or a new system.
The new conclusion came from a routine post-cyclone examination of real-time data and other data that was not immediately available, the report said.
“Ultimately, these post-analysis changes do not diminish the significant wind impacts that Hilary and its remnants brought to the southwestern United States.” the report said.
“Although the center of Hilary did not move into the United States, the large wind field associated with the tropical storm near the end of its life cycle resulted in sustained tropical-storm-force winds at some inland United States locations,” it said. “Therefore, Hilary is still considered to have impacted the United States as a tropical storm.”
Significant damage included flooded neighborhoods, especially in Riverside County’s Coachella Valley, and destruction of roads. Rain formed an ephemeral lake in Death Valley National Park that still persists, with replenishment by a recent atmospheric river.
