Parts of California and Arizona are at a heightened risk of flash flooding this weekend as Hurricane Priscilla shifts its path to the northeast.
Newsweek reached out to the National Hurricane Center (NHC) by email for comment.
Why It Matters
Hurricane Priscilla is the 16th named storm of the 2025 Eastern Pacific hurricane season. As of a recent update from the NHC, Priscilla had maximum wind speeds of 110 mph, making it a higher-end Category 2 storm, only 1 mph below the Category 3 classification, which would make it a major hurricane.
What to Know
Priscilla is expected to reach major hurricane strength later today. It will remain at hurricane strength through mid-week before weakening into a tropical storm. The NHC anticipates it will make landfall in Baja California on Friday as a post-tropical depression.
Tropical storm conditions could begin in parts of Baja California as soon as tonight.
As Priscilla moves through Baja California, it will weaken into a post-tropical depression. NHC’s potential track area for the storm shows it bringing impacts into southeastern California and southwestern Arizona by later this week or this weekend.
“Heavy rainfall associated with Priscilla will impact portions of Baja California Sur today into Wednesday,” the NHC said in its most recent forecast. “Its moisture will lead to heavy rainfall across west-central Mexico from today into Thursday morning and across the U.S. Desert Southwest from last this week into this weekend, which could result in flash flooding, particularly in areas of higher terrain.”
AccuWeather warned that “more than a month of rain” could fall over a few days across the Desert Southwest. A rainfall map included with the AccuWeather forecast showed that heavy rain associated with tropical moisture from Priscilla could stretch as far north as Salt Lake City, Utah.
In addition to heavy rain, Priscilla is bringing dangerous swells and life-threatening rip currents to southwestern and west-central Mexico and the southern Baja California peninsula.
What People Are Saying
Social media personality and meteorologist Max Velocity in a post on X: “2025 continues to get weirder… Arizona and California are in the cone of uncertainty for Hurricane Priscilla.”
AccuWeather Lead Hurricane Expert Alex DaSilva said in a report: “There is a growing risk that tropical moisture can bring heavy rain and some flooding into the Southwest Thursday night into the weekend.”
The Weather Channel meteorologist Chris Bruin posted on X: “The remnants of Hurricane Priscilla are expected to move into Arizona & the Desert SW this weekend. Models are already hinting at notable rainfall starting Thursday.”
What Happens Next
Priscilla will continue to bring impacts to parts of Baja California and Mexico this week before the moisture moves into the U.S. on Friday and into the weekend. People residing in these areas should monitor forecasts and be prepared to act should there be a weather emergency, such as a flash flood.