Residents on the Baja Peninsula are facing a major hurricane and residents as far north as San Diego, Yuma, and even out toward Phoenix or Tuscon, should prepare for the possibility of an extraordinarily rare and potentially very dangerous tropical cyclone over the next few days. From the NHC:
MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS ARE NEAR 145 MPH...230 KM/HR...WITH HIGHER GUSTS. JIMENA IS AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS CATEGORY FOUR HURRICANE ON THE SAFFIR-SIMPSON SCALE. SOME FLUCTUATIONS IN INTENSITY ARE POSSIBLE DURING THE NEXT DAY OR TWO. AN AIR FORCE RESERVE HURRICANE HUNTER AIRCRAFT IS SCHEDULED TO INVESTIGATE JIMENA LATER TODAY.
Rough terrain over Baja should interfere with further intensification once the storm makes landfall. But in the event Jimena stays over the ocean to the east or west of the peninsula, sea surface temperatures are plenty warm enough to produce and sustain a deadly pacific hurricane.