Hurricane Hilary is set to bring ‘once in a century’ levels of rain to Southern California over the weekend, with locals warned to prepare for strong winds and storm surges.

The large tropical storm is currently a Category 4 Hurricane, and is expected to bring ‘rare’ and ‘life-threatening’ flash floods from the Baja California peninsula into Nevada.

A high risk warning has been issued for excessive rainfall for much of Southern California for Sunday which is expected to last into Monday.

Officials with the National Hurricane Center (NHC) also issued a first-ever tropical storm watch for southwestern California.

Jeff Masters of Yale Climate Connections and a former government in-flight meteorologist said the region could face once-in-a-century rains and there´s a good chance Nevada will break its all-time rainfall record, adding that Hilary’s strength and its width are impressive.

Early Friday, Hilary was centered about 360 miles (575 kilometers) south-southwest of Los Cabos on the southern tip of the Baja peninsula. It was moving northwest at 10 mph (17 kph), and was expected to turn further toward the north.

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It will still be a hurricane when it approaches the west coast of Baja California over the weekend, but is expected to weaken to a tropical storm before reaching Southern California on Sunday afternoon.

According to the National Weather Service, Big Bear Lake, Julian, Idyllwild, and Mt. Laguna could get up to 7 inches of rain between Saturday and Monday.

The Coachella Valley, including Palm Springs, could see up to 5 inches. Hemet, San Bernardino, Hesperia and Victorville could see up to 4 inches.

Colorado State University hurricane researcher Phil Klotzbach said: ‘The rain is the biggest potential threat.’

SpaceX delayed the launch of a satellite-carrying rocket from a base on California´s central coast until at least Monday.

The company said conditions in the Pacific could make it difficult for a ship to recover the rocket booster.