Hurricane Hilary_ Why California should fear tropical storms

Accuweather's Jonathan Porter explains the danger a tropical storm or hurricane presents to the U.S. Southwest coast.

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While rain from hurricanes and tropical storms regularly hits the state, the hurricanes themselves do not. A 1939 hurricane, El Cordonazo, came close, but lost strength and became a tropical storm just before landfall near Los Angeles, historical records show. No tropical storm has made landfall since, according to federal weather officials.