Boris weakens to tropical depression in East Pacific
The Eastern Pacific Ocean has sprung to life this week with the formation of Boris, and forecasters are tracking up to two other areas for potential development.
Of the areas under close scrutiny, it was the tropical feature farthest from land that developed first. Tropical Storm Boris organized Thursday afternoon by 5 p.m. EDT on Thursday, June 25. The system had formed as Tropical Depression Three-E late in the morning the day before. The system is currently located more than 2,000 miles southwest of the southern tip of the Baja Peninsula.
The system is currently moving west-northwestward at 8 mph (13 km/h), as it navigates the warm waters of the East Pacific Ocean.
"Boris is moving over water temperatures that are near 81-82 degrees Fahrenheit and within an environment of low shear," AccuWeather Hurricane Expert Dan Kottlowski said. "Dry stable air that was suppressing thunderstorm development around the system decreased, allowing thunderstorm to form near the center of the storm."
Once struggling to survive and intensify, this change allowed for the surface pressure to fall and the storm to create a tighter circulation, leading to a more intense storm.
However, by early Friday morning, Boris weakened to a tropical depression as the system began to move into an area with stronger wind shear and drier air.
DOWNLOAD THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP
The tropical system is expected to continue its general westward track and cross into the Central Pacific Ocean this weekend. As it follows this path, it will migrate out of the warmest waters and continue to weaken, likely degenerating into a non-tropical low pressure area more than 600 miles to the south-southeast of the Big Island of Hawaii.
 |
Behind Boris, there are a couple other tropical disturbances that forecasters are following closely.
 |
The two tropical disturbances that have emerged are moving in a general west-northwesterly direction.
One system was located southwest of the southern coast of Mexico and the other was just emerging from the coast of Central America. The former system has the greatest chance of becoming a tropical depression over the next few days. If the latter system were to develop, it would likely not be until late this weekend or early next week.
Whether the eastern features organize or not, the anticipated track of the tropical low will keep most of the impacts away from land. While some rough waves may reach the shores of southern Mexico, shipping interests in the region should be wary of heavy downpours or turbulent seas.
The next system to strengthen into a tropical storm with winds of 39 mph (62 km/h) in the East Pacific Basin would be given the name Cristina.
AccuWeather forecasters have been warning for a more active end to June in the East Pacific for more than a week.
At the same time, forecasters have been monitoring Saharan dust pushing through the Caribbean Sea and into the Gulf of Mexico, which is helping to stifle widespread tropical development in the Atlantic Basin. Dolly formed outside of the large plume of dust this week, more than 300 miles southeast of Nova Scotia, and became the second earliest fourth-named storm in recorded history in the Atlantic.
Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
