Tropical Storm Xavier makes eastern Pacific Ocean most active season since 1992

By Kristina Pydynowski, AccuWeather senior meteorologist

November 04, 2018, 3:20:54 PM EST

The eastern Pacific hurricane season hasn't been this active since 1992 with Tropical Storm Xavier churning offshore of Mexico.

The 22nd named tropical storm of the 2018 eastern Pacific hurricane season formed on Friday night. On average, 15 tropical storms form in the eastern Pacific each year.

"After tracking to the north, Xavier will turn more to the west at the end of the weekend and into Monday," according to AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Brian Wimer.

Rough seas building around the storm will continue to create dangers for boaters and swimmers. This includes residents and vacationers in Manzanillo.

Downpours and strong winds can also continue to graze the Mexican states of western Michoacán, Colima and Jalisco into Sunday night. Localized flash flooding and mudslides may occur.

The demise of Xavier will come as the storm tracks westward.

Xavier may weaken to a tropical depression by Tuesday before dissipating over the open waters west of Mexico at midweek.

Elsewhere in the eastern Pacific Ocean, the window for development is beginning to close on an area of disturbed weather west of Xavier.

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The 1992 hurricane season holds the record as the most active in the eastern and central Pacific Ocean with 28 named storms (official records include the central Pacific). Of those storms, 24 formed in the eastern Pacific.

Tropical Storm Xavier of 1992 took shape in mid-October. That year’s season ended with Tropical Storm Zeke in late October.

Typically, the list of names for tropical storms and hurricanes is on a six-year rotation in the Atlantic and eastern Pacific oceans.

However, the name Xavier is used every other year with Xina being the other in the eastern Pacific. The names that begin with the letters Y and Z are also on a two-year rotation.

In addition to the 22-named storms from the eastern Pacific this year, Hurricane Walaka tracked through the central Pacific Ocean.

AccuWeather’s long-range forecasting team anticipated that the eastern Pacific would be more active than normal back in the spring.

"The combination of warmer-than-normal water temperatures and frequent episodes of lower wind shear in the basin’s main development region contributed to the active season," according to AccuWeather Meteorologist Max Vido.

Wind shear is the changing of speed and direction of winds at different layers of the atmosphere. Strong wind shear can shred apart mature tropical storms or hurricanes.

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