Jonathan Erdman
Published: April 25, 2020
Tropical Depression One-E has formed well south of Mexico's Baja California Peninsula, becoming the first April tropical depression on record in the Eastern Pacific Ocean.
This tropical depression is located over 700 miles southwest of the southern tip of Mexico's Baja Peninsula.
Satellite imagery shows the area of thunderstorms become better organized and a well-defined center developed Saturday morning.
Current Storm Status and Projected Path
Tropical Depression One-E will continue to track northwestward and is no threat to land.
Dry air is already wrapping into this system and will prevent much additional strengthening, although it could briefly become a tropical storm. Conditions will become more unfavorable on Sunday and is expected to become a remnant low by Sunday night.
If it manages to strengthen to a tropical storm, it would be named Amanda, the first name of the 2020 Eastern Pacific hurricane season.
A First for April
This system is the first April tropical depression on record in the Eastern Pacific Basin in reliable records since weather satellites began regularly watching the tropics in the late 1960s.
The earliest Eastern Pacific tropical depression or storm occurred just three years ago, when Tropical Storm Adrian formed off the coast of El Salvador and Guatemala on May 9, 2017.
The next May, Tropical Depression One-E formed well southwest of Los Cabos, Mexico, on May 10, 2018.
The Eastern Pacific hurricane season generally runs from May 15 to Nov. 30, roughly two weeks before the Atlantic hurricane season.
Colorado State University tropical scientist Dr. Phil Klotzbach noted in 2017 that there appeared to be no significant long-term trend in the date the first Eastern Pacific named storm formed.
Last year, the A storm, Hurricane Alvin, didn't first become a tropical storm until June 26, over two weeks after the average date the first named storm forms, according to the NHC.
Since 2000, 21 named storms have developed in May in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, an average of at least one each May. Nine of those storms became hurricanes.
Tracks of the 21 named storms that developed in May in the Eastern Pacific Ocean from 2000 through 2019.
The last time Amanda was used in the Eastern Pacific Ocean was also noteworthy.
Hurricane Amanda in 2014 was the strongest May hurricane on record in either the Eastern Pacific or Atlantic basins, reaching peak estimated intensity of 155 mph, just shy of Category 5.
The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.
The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.
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