image: This infrared satellite image from NASA's Aqua satellite showed a small area of strong convection (purple) remaining in Tropical Depression 6E on July 15, where cloud top temperatures were colder than -63F. view more
Credit: Credit: NASA/JPL, Ed Olsen
The storm known formerly as Tropical Depression 6E, or TD6E, has been downgraded into a remnant low pressure system in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. On July 16 when NASA's Aqua satellite flew over TD6E, the infrared imagery showed a small area of strong convection in the storm.
The image, captured on July 15 at 2105 UTC 5:05 p.m. EDT was captured when 6E was still a tropical depression. By July 16, 6E was a remnant low pressure area and had maximum sustained winds near 25 knots (28 mph). It was located near 18 North and 111 West hundreds of miles from the southwestern coast of Mexico. 6E was moving west-northwestward near 10 knots (11 mph). The estimated minimum central pressure is 1006 millibars.
On July 16, the National Hurricane Center indicated that scattered moderate isolated strong convection is occurring within 300 nautical miles in the western semicircle. On July 15, NASA infrared imagery showed the strongest convection to the south of the center of circulation.
6E is a large remnant low, about 600 nautical miles in diameter, and is being "stretched" and elongated because of strong vertical wind shear. It's the wind shear, coupled with dry air and cooler waters (that 6E is moving into) that make strengthening back into a tropical storm very unlikely.