Tropical Storm Andres, earliest named storm in eastern Pacific proper, forms; no threat to land
Tropical Storm Andres – the first named storm of the 2021 Pacific hurricane season – was named Sunday morning over the open eastern Pacific. Andres is the earliest named storm in the eastern Pacific east of 140°W, besting a record by about 12 hours previously held by Tropical Storm Adrian just four years ago. Andres is the fourth pre-season tropical cyclone to form in the eastern Pacific in the last five years. The 2021 Pacific hurricane season does not officially begin until May 15. It is also interesting to note that Andres’ formation marks the first time since 2014 in which the eastern Pacific proper had a named storm develop before the North Atlantic, which is still yet to see its first named storm.
Current Tropical Storm Andres information
As of 3:00 p.m. MDT (5:00 p.m. EDT), Tropical Storm Andres was centered near 14.0°N 108.5°W, and was moving northwestward at approximately 6 mph. Maximum sustained winds were 35 knots (40 mph), with an estimated minimum pressure of 1005 mb. Andres has changed little in organization today, after being named earlier this morning. An ASCAT pass from earlier this afternoon did not find any tropical storm force winds, but it did find a sufficiently well-defined circulation, and the strongest convection was not sampled by the instrument. Andres is a sheared tropical cyclone, and it has likely that the pre-season tropical cyclone has already peaked in intensity.
Forecast for Andres
Andres should continue on its northwestward trajectory for the next day or so, before Andres or its remnants turn to the west on Tuesday. Andres has a very tough road ahead of it, which is to be expected before the season officially begins. The 18z run of the GFS-based SHIPS model indicated that shear would increase to over 30 knots by Monday evening, which will likely result in the cyclone dissipating or becoming a remnant low on Tuesday morning, if not sooner. In addition, 700-500 mb relative humidity values are expected to decrease below 60%, a less favorable thermodynamic environment for convection. Andres is no threat to land.