Eastern Pacific Hurricane Season Sees Record July After Slow Start to the Season

Chris Dolce
Published: July 22,2016

After a record slow start, the eastern Pacific has tied a new July record by spawning seven tropical storms. Additionally, five storms formed in the first fifteen days of this month, the most on record for the first half of the month.
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The record for the most tropical storms in July has been tied with the formation of Tropical Storm Georgette; 1985 currently holds that record with seven total, according to Blake.
Agatha's formation July 2 was the latest first tropical storm in the eastern Pacific, since reliable records began in 1971. Since that occurred, the basin has gone into overdrive with the development of Blas, Celia, Darby, and Estelle in a span of about two weeks.
When Tropical Storm Estelle was named July 15, it set a new record for the most eastern Pacific tropical storms to form in the first half of July, according to Eric Blake, a hurricane specialist at the National Hurricane Center.
On average, the eastern Pacific sees its fifth named storm by July 22, so the basin has been playing "catch-up" as of late.

The tracks of Agatha, Blas, Celia, Darby, Estelle, Frank, and Georgette July 1-22, 2016.

As the map illustrates, the storms this month have all traveled along generally the same path geographically, moving west-northwest away from Mexico.
This means that none of the July storms have impacted land significantly so far. However, Darby is forecast to bring heavy rain, high surf, and gusty winds to Hawaii this weekend.
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Satellite image of Hurricane Blas on July 6 when it was a Category 3. (Credit: NASA)

The strongest hurricane so far in the eastern Pacific this month was Blas. On July 5, Blas reached Category 4 strength with winds estimated to be 140 mph.
Another record could be set for the most hurricanes in the eastern Pacific in July. So far we've had three: Blas, Celia and Darby. The standing July record is four hurricanes.

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