Many eyes on Hurricane Jova brewing off Baja California, may spark rain locally

Rene Ray De La Cruz, Victorville Daily Press
Updated ·2 min read
16
Category 5 Hurricane Jova, brewing south of Baja California, may bring moisture to Southern California next week.
Category 5 Hurricane Jova, brewing south of Baja California, may bring moisture to Southern California next week.

After Hurricane Hilary’s departure in August, a more powerful hurricane is brewing south of Baja California, which may bring moisture to Southern California next week.

Meteorologists on Thursday reported that Jova was a Category 5 hurricane near the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula and was moving in a northwesterly direction.

Jova is not expected to take a track similar to Hilary, “but may push enough moisture into our area to spark rain chances next week,” the National Weather Service reported.

Category 5 Hurricane Jova, brewing south of Baja California, may bring moisture to Southern California next week.
Category 5 Hurricane Jova, brewing south of Baja California, may bring moisture to Southern California next week.

Should Jova remain on its trajectory, the impact to parts of Southern California would include an increase in surf and clouds beginning late Saturday and Sunday. Rainfall chances remain at less than 10%, the NWS reported.

There remains a possibility that Jova could cause flooding over the weekend along south-facing, vulnerable beaches in Southern California, the weather agency said.

Growing in intensity, Hurricane Jova, more than 500 miles south-southwest of the southern tip of Baja, has sustained winds of close to 160 miles per hour, with even stronger gusts, according to the NWS.

Jova was a tropical storm on Tuesday, however, it underwent a “remarkable rapid intensification” due in part to warm sea-surface temperatures, the NWS said.

Hurricane Jova appears to have tied 2015’s Hurricane Patricia in being an eastern Pacific hurricane that was the fastest to go from Category 1 to 5 intensity, doing so in 18 hours, the weather service reported.

Tropical Storm Hilary, once a Category 4 hurricane when it swirled in the Pacific before making landfall in Mexico, brought record-breaking rainfall to Southern California, flooded roads, and mud and rock slides and as it moved north.

Daily Press reporter Rene Ray De La Cruz may be reached at 760-951-6227 or RDeLaCruz@VVDailyPress.com. Follow him on Twitter @DP_ReneDeLaCruz

This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: Many eyes on Hurricane Jova brewing off Baja California