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A recently formed tropical system has become Hurricane Hilary and is forecast by AccuWeather meteorologists to wander close enough to the southwestern United States to raise the likelihood of torrential rain and the potential for major flash flooding beginning this weekend and lasting into next week.

The system was dubbed a tropical storm on Wednesday morning when it developed maximum sustained winds of 40 mph. As of Thursday morning, it was found to have strengthened to a Category 1 hurricane with sustained winds of 75 mph. The system has undergone rapid intensification with winds increasing 35 mph in 24 hours or less and was located less than 600 miles to the south of the southern tip of Mexico's Baja peninsula.