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A serious tropical storm warning has been issued in Southern California by The National Weather Service, the first ever one for the state.
Hurricane Hilary, which is expected to affect the southernmost border of the Golden State to north of Los Angeles, has been deemed a Category 2 storm. It was previously labeled a Category 3 storm.
Major airlines including American, Jetblue, Southwest and United have posted official messages on their websites explaining that operations in nine California airports could be affected, notably those in Los Angeles and San Diego. Las Vegas could also halt flights due to the weather forecast.
So far, 198 flights landing at San Diego International Airport on Sunday have been cancelled. 52 planned for Monday have been cancelled as well.
Similarly, 31 flights heading into Los Angeles International Airport have, too, been cancelled on Sunday. Five scheduled for Monday have received the same fate. At Orange County's John Wayne Airport, 69 Sunday flights and 23 Monday flights were called off. At Hollywood Burbank Airport, 82 Sunday flights and 32 Monday flights will no longer be followed through.
To accommodate the inconveniences caused by Hurricane Hilary, airlines are not charging additional fees to change flights if the flight tickets have been purchased through the companies directly instead of through a third-party service.