International
Amanda Becomes First Tropical Storm in Eastern Pacific
By Courtney Spamer, Staff Writer for AccuWeather.com
May 23, 2014 - 1:08:45 PM


AccuWeather Global Weather Center -- 23 May 2014 -- AccuWeather.com reports after the season's first tropical depression formed in the Eastern Pacific Thursday, now the season's first named storm of 2014 has formed.

An area of low pressure spinning several hundred miles south-southwest of Manzanillo, Mexico, become better organized Thursday afternoon and became the first tropical depression of the season.

The system has now strengthened into Tropical Storm Amanda.

Showers and thunderstorms continue to increase around the low pressure center. As the storm moves northwestward, warm waters and a lack of strong wind shear (disruptive winds above the surface) the potential has increased for this Tropical Storm to become a weak hurricane late in the weekend.

It is not just that area being monitored but also another cluster of showers and thunderstorms to its southeast, according to AccuWeather.com Meteorologist Rob Miller.

Both storms are expected to track to the northwest or west-northwest across the open waters of the Pacific Ocean through the weekend.

"At most, some tropical moisture will get drawn into southern Mexico and the southern Plains through the weekend, leading to increased thunderstorms," added Miller.

"This includes Acapulco and Mexico City."

The potential for development this week is just the start of what is likely to be a busy hurricane season in the eastern Pacific.

With the onset of El Niño this summer, AccuWeather.com meteorologists expect above-normal tropical activity in the eastern Pacific.

© Copyright 2014 by thebahamasweekly.com -