A westbound tropical depression has formed in the Eastern Pacific.
Tropical Depression Eight E was packing 35 mph winds about 1,000 miles west-southwest of the Baja California peninsula and was tracking in the direction of Hawaii at 15 mph on Monday.
Although the system is still far from the boundary of the North Central Pacific basin, the forecast track does take the disturbance along the south edge of the Big Island by the weekend. Forecasters with the National Weather Service aren’t expecting the course of the system to change much. They also aren’t expecting it to strengthen a great deal either; winds are slated to peak around 40 mph Tuesday and Wednesday and gradually weaken back to 35 mph later in the week as the system keeps trucking west-northwest.
Forecasters say the cyclone will stumble into moderate northwesterly shear and marginal sea surface temperatures by Thursday. Drier air is also expected to cap Eight E’s strength.