image: NOAA's GOES-15 satellite captured an infrared image of Dalila as it was pulling away from the coast on July 2 at 1200 UTC (8 a.m. EDT/5 a.m. PDT). In the imagery, the line of daylight is apparent just east of the System 97E. view more
Credit: Credit: NASA GOES Project
NOAA's GOES-15 satellite captured an infrared image of the Eastern Pacific Ocean during the pre-dawn hours on July 2 and noticed Tropical Storm Dalila weakening near the southwestern Mexico coast, while further southwest a new tropical low pressure area called System 97E, had formed.
Dalila's maximum sustained winds appeared to peak on July 1 at 11 p.m. EDT when they hit 70 mph (110 kph). By 5 a.m. EDT on July 2, Dalila's maximum sustained winds dropped to 65 mph (100 kph). Dalila was also moving away from the southwestern coast of Mexico and headed into the open waters of the Eastern Pacific Ocean.
At 5 a.m. EDT on July 2, Dalila was located near 17.7 north latitude and 106.8 west longitude, about 185 miles (300 km) west-southwest of Manzanillo, Mexico. Dalila was moving to the west at 5 mph (7 kph) and had a minimum central pressure of 994 millibars.
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) expects Dalila to keep moving in a westerly direction with a little change in strength over the next couple of days.
NOAA's GOES-15 satellite captured an infrared image of Dalila as it was pulling away from the coast on July 2 at 1200 UTC (8 a.m. EDT/5 a.m. PDT). In the imagery, the line of daylight is apparent just east of the System 97E. NOAA manages the GOES-15 satellite, and NASA's GOES Project at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. created the image using the GOES-15 satellite data.
Satellite imagery has shown that the bands of thunderstorms appear to have decreased around the center. NHC forecasters noted that decrease is possibly due to a combination of moderate vertical wind shear from the southeast and dry air working its way into the storm. Microwave satellite imagery has helped place the center southeast of the previous NHC advisory position.
System 97E has formed off the coasts of southwestern Mexico and southwestern Guatemala. The low stretches for several hundred miles from the Gulf of Tehuantepec to southwestern Guatemala. The NHC noted that environmental conditions will become favorable for slow development, and System 97E has a medium chance (near 30 percent) of becoming a tropical depression over the next two days. The low is moving to the west to west-northwest at 10 mph (16 kph).