Short-lived Tropical Depression Six-E dissipates in East Pacific
AccuWeather meteorologists continue to be monitor what was once Tropical Storm Cristina, as well as the remains of a fizzled tropical depression.
A broad area of low pressure moving off the southern coast of Mexico over the warm waters of the East Pacific Ocean developed into Tropical Depression Six-E on Monday afternoon with maximum-sustained winds of 35 mph.
According to AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Rob Miller, this system encountered vertical wind shear, or the change in direction and speed of wind at increasing heights in the atmosphere.
This shear took its toll on the system and, as a result, the depression was designated as a remnant low by the National Hurricane Center on Tuesday afternoon, only 24 hours after it formed.
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Map showing the location of former Tropical |
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The next system to reach tropical storm status, which is a system with maximum-sustained winds of at least 39 mph, in the East Pacific Basin would be given the name Douglas.
While this feature did not directly impact land, it can still increase rough surf and the risk for rip currents along the southern coast of Mexico this week.
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This satellite image of the East Pacific, captured on Monday afternoon, local time, shows the remnants of Cristina on the left and newly formed Tropical Depression Six-E on the right off the coast of Mexico. (NOAA) |
Meanwhile, what remains of former Tropical Storm Cristina continues to spin farther west and has moved into the Central Pacific Basin.
Cristina weakened as it moved over cooler waters late Sunday night and was designated as a post-tropical cyclone, or remnant low, by the National Hurricane Center. Cristina initially formed late last Monday night.
"Cristina became a strong tropical storm with sustained winds of 70 mph at the end of last week," stated Miller.
What remains of Cristina will not pose a direct threat to any land, but forecasters will continue to monitor the potential for impacts to the Hawaiian Islands late this week.
"At this time, moisture from Cristina is forecast to pass north of Hawaii during the latter part of the week," said AccuWeather Hurricane Expert Dan Kottlowski. "However, there is potential for this moisture to sink farther south, which could bring showers to the islands."
Once in a while, these features can hold together for thousands of miles or long enough to bring showers, thunderstorms and rough seas to Hawaii.
"The waters east of Hawaii are cooler than waters south and west of Central America, and this tends to cause most tropical systems to weaken and/or fall apart before reaching Hawaii," Kottlowski stated.
"Generally, we start to look for significant impacts by tropical systems on Hawaii around August or so, when waters have warmed up and less wind shear is present," he explained.
During July 2019, Hurricane Barbara passed about 120 miles south of Hawaii on July 8. In August 2019, Erick passed just south of the Big Island on Aug. 4 as a tropical storm, while Flossie passed just north of the islands as a depression on Aug. 6.
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