Tropical Storm Javier (RECAP)

Javier's History

In the first week of August 2016, an area of low pressure formed south of Mexico and gained moisture from the remnants of the Atlantic's Hurricane Earl. By August 7, the low-pressure system had gained enough organization to be declared a tropical depression. 

By later that day, the tropical depression developed into a tropical storm. Winds gusted to 46 mph in Manzanillo when Javier was near the southwest coast of Mexico.

On August 8, Javier intensified into a 65 mph tropical storm near Cabo San Lucas. Over the next day, Javier paralleled Baja California as it moved toward the north and began to weaken. 

Scattered showers and storms mainly on the periphery of former Javier's circulation continued to produce locally heavy rain and flash flooding of normally dry washes and arroyos into the following week. 

As with many tropical cyclones tracking near Baja California, Javier has helped to pull a surge of moisture northward into the Southwest U.S. For more details on that story, click the link below.

(MORE: Tropical Moisture Surge Heads For Southwest U.S.)

Javier Formed Partially From Remnants of Earl

Javier formed partially from the remnants of Hurricane Earl, which impacted Belize, Honduras and Mexico in early August.

How often does a "ghost" or remnant of a past tropical storm or hurricane help form a new one in a different basin?

According to NOAA's Hurricane Research Division, it's more common than it sounds.

It most recently occurred in October 2014 when eastern Pacific Tropical Storm Trudy made landfall in Mexico. After that, NOAA/HRD says the following occurred:

• Trudy's circulation dissipated in the mountains of southern Mexico.
• The remnant moisture and spin aloft helped spawn a tropical depression in the Bay of Campeche.
• That depression weakened to a tropical low before moving over the Yucatan Peninsula.
• It regenerated into a depression, then Tropical Storm Hanna before landfalling near the Honduras/Nicaragua border.

It's happened in the opposite direction, as well.

NOAA-HRD documented 15 total cases of remnants of tropical storms or hurricanes from one basin helping to form new tropical storms or hurricanes in another basin, dating to 1923. They caution that due to lack of satellite data, some other cases prior to the 1970s may have gone undetected.

This has occurred 11 times since the 1970s, or once every 3 to 4 years, on average. One of these cases involved 1974's Hurricane Fifi, responsible for anywhere from 3,000 to 10,000 deaths (primarily due to rainfall flooding) in Central America.

(MORE: Tragic History From Tropical Cyclones in Mexico, Central America)

Another bizarre case involved a Category 5 landfall in Belize (Hurricane Hattie in 1961) whose remnant helped form eastern Pacific Tropical Storm Simone.

But there's more.

Simone's remnant then ended up back in the Bay of Campeche, merging with another disturbance to help form Tropical Storm Inga.

To recap, that was Atlantic to eastern Pacific back to Atlantic Basin.

(MORE: Retired Atlantic Hurricane Names)

Atlantic to East Pacific Mexico Landfall?

Has an eastern Pacific tropical cyclone spawned from an Atlantic remnant ever made landfall in Mexico?

Several have come close, but officially, it has only happened twice, according to NOAA-HRD:

• September 1974: Hurricane Orlene (seeded by Atlantic Hurricane Fifi)
• September 1971: Hurricane Olivia (made landfall in Baja California as a tropical depression; seeded by Atlantic Hurricane Irene)

MORE ON WEATHER.COM: Images of Hurricane Eyes