'String of Pearls' tropical systems sail the East Pacific
Meteorologist, PhD
Wednesday, July 19, 2017, 2:29 PM - The Eastern Pacific is experiencing a very active week in terms of tropical activity, as two named storms and a tropical depression are lined up like a string of pearls, moving west away from Mexico’s west coast where they have all formed.
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Click play to watch below: Satellite loop of three storms in the East Pacific
Fernanda, once a Category 3 hurricane will lose her hurricane status by the end of the day Wednesday as it runs into cooler ocean surface waters (less than 25oC) and stronger southwesterly vertical wind shear conditions (45 to 55 km/h). The eye of the storm is no longer clearly defined and is expected to gradually degenerate over the next couple of days.
Below: NHC Predicted Storm Track for Fernanda
Fernanda's remnants should continue to track northwest moving just north of Hawaii.
Despite not moving directly over the archipelago, later in the week energy and moisture from the storm will be organized enough to produce showers, high surf and rip currents along some of the north-northwest facing beaches.
Tropical Storm Greg gaining some momentum
Closer to the southwest coast of Mexico, Tropical Storm Greg is packing in maximum sustained winds of about 70 km/h as it moves west at 16 km/h. Wind shear in the region where Greg is moving is decreasing and that should help the storm strengthen together with warmer SST´s and a moisture enhanced environment.
Below: NHC Tropical Storm Greg Track Map
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After day 3 (Friday), computer models show some uncertainty on how Greg will eventually evolve. There seems to be a good chance it might interact with Tropical Depression Eight-E to the west, although Greg would become the dominant cyclone.
Wind shear in the region is likely to increase as Greg moves west later in the week and that could limit storm intensification. However, as long as the storm maintains the current forecast track to the west, it should remain in a warm enough environment to continue showing some strengthening.
Below: NHC Eight-E Track Map
Beyond these three tropical systems, a fourth system is now brewing southwest of the coast of Guatemala and El Salvador. This system currently has a 60 per cent chance of developing into a Tropical Depression over the next five days.
