Hurricane Felicia has formed in the eastern Pacific, far off the coast of Mexico, but forecasters said Thursday it appeared to pose no threat to land.
The storm was centered about 730 miles (1,175 kilometers) southwest of the southern tip of the Baja California Peninsula early Thursday with maximum sustained winds of 85 mph (140 kph), according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center.
It was moving to the west at 12 mph (19 kph).
Forecasters said the storm was expected to continue gaining force over the coming day or so.
Another Pacific storm emerges off Mexico coast
A large area of disorganized showers and thunderstorms continues well offshore of the coast of southern Mexico in association with a tropical wave. Environmental conditions are expected to be conducive for gradual development over the next several days, and a tropical depression is likely to form this weekend well offshore of the southwestern coast of Mexico while the system moves westward or
west-northwestward at around 15 mph.
- Formation chance through 48 hours…medium…40 percent.
- Formation chance through 5 days…high…90 percent.
Hurricane Season 2021
This year, the hurricane season in the Pacific began earlier than ever. Tropical storm Andrés formed on Sunday, May 9, off the coasts of Jalisco and Michoacán, and in doing so it broke a historical record, since never before, since there are records, had a system of that magnitude originated so soon in the northeastern part of this ocean. The previous record had been set by Tropical Storm Adrián, which emerged on May 10, 2017.
In addition, Andrés also anticipated the official start of the hurricane season in the Pacific, which begins each year on May 15 and ends on November 30.
Hurricane Predictions 2021
According to the SMN, the following systems are expected in 2021:
- Tropical storms: between 7 and 10.
- Strong hurricanes (categories 1 and 2 ): from 3 to 5.
- Intense hurricanes (categories 3, 4 or 5): from 4 to 5.
Total: between 14 and 20 tropical cyclones.
The data is in the average collected for this Ocean between 1991 and 2020, which is 15 cyclones.
Names for the Northeast Pacific: Andrés -already used-, Blanca -already used-, Carlos -already used-, Dolores -already used-, Enrique -already used-, Felicia, Guillermo, Hilda, Ignacio, Jimena, Kevin, Linda, Marty, Nora, Olaf, Pamela, Rick, Sandra, Terry, Vivian, Waldo, Xina, York, Zelda.
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