NFL monitoring Hurricane Hilary: Chargers vs. Saints preseason game could be impacted

The NFL is currently monitoring Hurricane Hilary as the storm makes its way up the Pacific Coast and could impact Sunday night’s preseason matchup between the New Orleans Saints and Los Angeles Chargers at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. At the moment, the league reportedly has no plans to cancel or alter the schedule of the game, which is slated to kick off at 7:05 p.m. ET. 

“We continue to monitor the weather and will (update the situation) if anything changes,” NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said Friday, via NOLA.com.

As of Friday morning, Hilary was located 360 miles southwest of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico with a maximum sustained winds of 145 mph, which makes it a Category 4 storm. According to CBS News, it is expected to hit Southern California as a tropical storm and bring heavy rainfall potentially as early as Sunday night. Greg Postel, a hurricane and storm specialist at the Weather Channel, told CBS News that there will likely be “damaging wind gusts” particularly at higher elevations and swells along the coast. 

“It is rare — indeed nearly unprecedented in the modern record — to have a tropical system like this move through Southern California,” said Postel. 

The Chargers and Saints have been going through joint practices this week in Costa Mesa leading up to their preseason matchup on Sunday night. New Orleans arrived in L.A. on Wednesday for the joint sessions and is currently slated to fly home following the game on Sunday, per NOLA.com.