2 tropical systems continue to swirl in East Pacific

After the demise of Hurricane Genevieve west of the coast of Baja California on Aug. 21, the East Pacific Ocean had been devoid of any organized tropical systems. However, that has all changed as two new tropical storms have formed as of Wednesday, Aug. 26, and at least one could directly impact land.

The first storm to be named, and the most direct threat to land, Hernan, was located about 165 miles (265 km) east of the southern tip of Baja California and a tropical storm as of 5 a.m. EDT Friday. The tropical storm lost wind intensity midday Friday, and was downgraded to a tropical depression.

Passing so closely to the Pacific shores of Mexico, Hernan helped to enhance showers and thunderstorms earlier this week, leading to some impressive rainfall totals.

With some tropical influence from Hernan, the city of Manzanillo, Mexico reported more than 10 inches (250 mm) of rainfall Thursday into Thursday night.

Still, Hernan's closes brush with land is yet to come.

"Hernan is forecast to pass just over the southern tip of Baja California Sur through Friday evening, bringing some gusty winds and locally heavy rainfall," AccuWeather Meteorologist Jake Sojda said.

"The system will then turn westward away from Baja California Sur and move across cooler waters over the weekend, causing it to weaken to a non-tropical low," Sojda said.

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A second area that AccuWeather meteorologists were actively monitoring in the basin became Tropical Depression 14-E on Wednesday morning, and was upgraded to Tropical Storm Iselle during the afternoon.

"Iselle is expected to move slowly towards Baja California before turning to the north and then northwest on Saturday and Sunday, where it will parallel the western Baja coast while remaining at least a couple hundred miles offshore," Sojda said.

Iselle may strengthen slightly into early Saturday before it runs into a much harsher environment for tropical systems.

"Cooler ocean temperatures ahead of Iselle as well as persistent wind shear will eventually lead to a gradual reduction in wind intensity," Sojda said.

"Other than some rough surf along the western coast of Mexico, this system is not expected to bring any direct impacts to land," Sojda said.

No other areas are being watched in the Eastern Pacific at this time. However, with the peak of the season not until September, more development is very likely in the weeks to come.

AccuWeather Meteorologists are also keeping an eye on other tropical basins across the world, including the Atlantic and the West Pacific.

Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.

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