Mexico — The eastern Pacific has recorded the first tropical storm of the 2021 hurricane season. The storm formed Friday off the southwestern coast of Mexico and was named Sunday. Tropical Storm Andres is the earliest on record to form in the eastern Pacific, surpassing Adrian in 2017.
Aside from being early, Andres also formed before the official start of the eastern Pacific’s hurricane season, which is May 15. As of 3:00 a.m. (MDT) Monday, Tropical Storm Andres had maximum sustained winds of 40 mph and was slowly moving northwest at 5 mph.
On Sunday, the National Hurricane Center said an “increased shear from southwest to west and drier air west of the cyclone should prevent any significant additional strengthening.” The storm is expected to dissipate into a tropical depression by Tuesday as it makes its way out to sea.
Due to a general increase in pre-season activity, the National Hurricane Center says that this year, they will begin issuing tropical weather outlooks as of May 15, up from the usual June 1 date.
