CALIFORNIA, USA — Once a major hurricane, Hilary is now a post-tropical storm moving quickly northward through Nevada. Although the track of the storm is not through Northern California, it's still dragging plenty of tropical moisture overhead in the form of humidity, clouds and rain.
As of 9 a.m. Monday, downtown Sacramento has picked up three-hundredths of an inch of rain. This may not seem like much – and truthfully it isn't – but it's 150% of average for the month of August. Downtown Sacramento typically only records two-hundredths of an inch of rain in the month of August.
There's still some time for additional rainfall in Northern California, but the best chance for rain is before noon. Rain chances across Northern California drop off sharply by Monday evening. Any additional rainfall will be light with only another couple hundredths likely.
This pales in comparison to the soaking Southern California picked up.
Widespread swaths of the deserts on the east side of the Peninsular Ranges picked up over 4 inches of rain, with the Palm Springs International Airport recording over 3 inches. Even Death Valley picked up a couple of inches and saw some flooding, but total rainfall varied widely based on terrain and which direction the slope was facing. Many desert areas experienced overflowing streams and washed out roads.
A slight eastward jog in the track of Hilary though Baja California meant the heaviest rain and strongest winds occurred east of the Peninsular Ranges, sparing the densely-populated coastal cities from the worst of the storm.
Despite this, it was still the rainiest August day on record for many locations, including Los Angeles and San Diego.
With what's left of Hilary quickly pushing north and dissipating over parts of Nevada, Oregon and Idaho, the rain and wind have come to an end, though the cleanup is just getting started.
The storm itself will go down in the record books as the first tropical storm to impact Southern California since Tropical Storm Nora in 1970, and the first to prompt Tropical Storm Watches then Warnings for California.
What Happened on Aug. 20 with Tropical Storm Hilary
Hurricane Hilary made landfall in Baja California as a tropical storm before continuing north through Southern California.
- The deserts of Southern California were particularly hard hit, with 4-10 inches of rain falling in places like El Centro and Palm Springs
- Many areas saw at least an average year's worth of rain in 48 hours
