Tropical Storm Amanda Forms as Eastern Pacific Hurricane Season Heats Up

Tropical Storm Amanda has formed in the Eastern Pacific, becoming the first named storm of the 2026 Pacific hurricane season. While the system is spinning far from land, forecasters are already watching more areas of disturbed weather that could develop near Mexico and Central America in the days ahead.

The Eastern Pacific hurricane season officially began on May 15, but the basin stayed quiet through the first stretch of the season. That changed this week when Tropical Depression One-E organized well southwest of Baja California and strengthened into Amanda.

Amanda Becomes the First Named Storm of the Season

Amanda is not expected to pose an immediate threat to land. The National Hurricane Center's (NHC) latest advisory on the system placed it roughly 1,450 miles southwest of the southern tip of Baja California while it was still Tropical Depression One-E, with no coastal watches or warnings in effect.

At that point, the depression had maximum sustained winds near 35 mph and was moving northwest at about 6 mph. Forecasters said strengthening was likely, with the system expected to become a tropical storm later Wednesday.

Amanda’s location keeps it well away from Mexico, Hawaii, and other major land areas for now. The National Hurricane Center forecast discussion noted that the storm was embedded in a moist environment over warm sea surface temperatures, which gave it room to strengthen over the next couple of days.