Hurricane Hilary Could Create a New Lake in Desert

Forecasts for Hurricane Hilary predict that the storm will bring a deluge of rain to the desert, threatening to create a new lake in the hottest place on Earth.

As a tropical storm, Hilary formed early on Wednesday and intensified into a hurricane by Thursday morning. It strengthened to a Category 4 early Friday morning with sustained wind speeds at 140 miles per hour. Winds are expected to weaken before hitting Baja California, Mexico, by this weekend.

Forecast models show the storm hitting inland California as a tropical storm overnight Sunday and into Monday. No tropical storm has made landfall in California with hurricane-force winds in recorded history.

Hilary’s winds aren’t expected to cause severe damage, but meteorologists are worried that the heavy rainfall accompanying the storm will become life-threatening, especially in California desert areas like Palm Springs and at Death Valley National Park. The latter is known for its hot, arid climate, and the incoming storm could dump up to 4 inches of rain on the park—more than quadruple the amount that it normally receives in a year. The torrent of rain threatens to turn the park into a massive lake.

In past years, the storm’s rainfall predictions would be welcome news, especially as California suffered from a years-long drought. However, a wet winter already supplemented many of the state’s parched lakes and reservoirs.

AccuWeather chief meteorologist Jonathan Porter told Newsweek that few, if any, lakes in the area need help from the rain. The storm isn’t tracking far enough east to supplement the Colorado River, which would stand to benefit from the rain as it struggles with an ongoing drought.

Death Valley National Park has encountered its fair share of severe weather events already this year. In July, temperatures at the park neared 130 degrees as a heat wave gripped the southwestern part of the United States.

If forecasts hold true, a temporary lake could form at Death Valley courtesy of Hurricane Hilary. If that happens, it wouldn’t be the first time the desert was inundated with water. A flood in March 2019 created a 10-mile lake at the park. In October 2015, kayakers were able to paddle around the park when 1.3 inches of rain fell at one time, AccuWeather reported Thursday.

Areas like Palm Springs are also expected to receive heavy rain. The AccuWeather forecast for Palm Springs predicted 4 to 8 inches of rain, the upper end of which would dump more than the annual allotment of rain on the city. Palm Springs receives 5.13 inches of rain a year on average.

Such massive amounts of rain could cause washouts—or sudden erosion—and mudslides. The National Hurricane Center warned that Los Angeles and San Diego are among the cities most at risk for flash floods.

However, Hurricane Hilary still has potential to shift its track and miss the desert areas altogether.