The National Weather Service advises northern Nevada residents to be prepared for the possibility of severe thunderstorms and heavy rainfall as Hurricane Hilary moves toward the western United States.
As of Friday afternoon, Hurricane Hilary remained a powerful category 4 hurricane and was located off Baja California moving northwest at 10 mph.
The hurricane is expected to make landfall somewhere in Baja California or Southern California, said Dustin Norman, senior meteorologist with the National Weather Service. By the time it reaches Reno, it will be a low pressure system with tropical moisture.
“The moisture from the storm will begin to quickly weaken once it makes landfall and it's supposed to be dissipated by the time it reaches our area,” Norman said.
However, the moisture from that system will push into our area and dramatically increase rain chances, he said.
“So we're looking at, for the Reno area, around half an inch to 1.5 inches of precipitation from this. Our heaviest day for rainfall is looking to be Sunday and Monday. And we still may have some lingering showers around Tuesday and Wednesday as well,” Norman said.
Reno Fire Department Captain Jeremy White advised residents to take precautions and check weather conditions.
“For flood water concerns, clean out your gutters, clean out the streets, make sure there's no leaves piled in the drainages, so clean out any drainages coming off of your property and that where the water has somewhere to go,” White said.
In case of a lightning storm, White said people should stay sheltered and avoid outdoor activities.
