The satellite photograph identifies a newly developed Pacific Ocean hurricane now called Hurricane Andres situated well south east of Hawaii. The storm has just developed and currently a Category 1 Hurricane.
The storm is out in open ocean and there are currently no surface based observations.
The storm appears to be tracking north west as seen in the attached forecast track which would take it closer to Hawaii in coming days assuming the course is maintained.
Limited observations show the storm position being at Latitude 12.6 degrees north and 114.6 degrees east with an intensity of 983.2 millibars and with wind speeds of at east 65 Knots at the centre.
This would be the first such storm for the USA Hurricane Season. Currently it is not impacting any population centre due to its location.
http://www.extremestorms.com.au/hurricane-andres-develops-se-of-hawaii-may-29-2015/ The first Pacific Ocean Hurricane form well SE of Hawaii. It is currently in open water and not impacting any population centre. It appears that the storm will track closer to Hawaii over coming days.
The storm has rapidly intensified into a Category 3 storm as it tracks NW towards the Hawaii Islands. It’s still a reasonable distance from impacting any population centre or land but a rapid intensification from a Category 1 storm to a category 3 storm suggests that the storm has formed in a favourable environment. It now has estimated wind speeds in excess of 95 to 100 knotts. It remains to be seen where it will go and currently only satellite pictures and records from nearby oceanic buoys give any indication of its strength.
Hurricane Andres intensified briefly to a Category 4 storm with estimated wind speeds close to the centre at 119 knots and with a central pressure of 935.7 mb.
However, current readings show the storm having weakened back to a Category 2 storm. It appears that the storm is not following the forecast plot initially provided.
It would be interesting to see whether this storm survives given its location and given that a new storm is developing to the south east, now named Tropical Storm Blanca which by all indications may become a new hurricane.
The hurricane appears to have decayed to a tropical storm given that its wind speed has dropped to 60 knots. It is downgraded to a tropical storm and looks set to weaken further given its location as it moves outside the tropics. In all respects, the storm maintained its life span over open ocean and never threatened any land mass or population centre.