Tropical Storm Aletta (2006)

Tropical Storm Aletta

Tropical storm (SSHWS/NWS)
Tropical Storm Aletta shortly after being named on May 27
Formed	May 27, 2006
Dissipated	May 30, 2006
Highest winds	1-minute sustained: 45 mph (75 km/h)
Lowest pressure	1002 mbar (hPa); 29.59 inHg
Fatalities	None
Damage	Minimal
Areas affected	Mexico
Part of the 2006 Pacific hurricane season

Tropical Storm Aletta was the first tropical cyclone of the 2006 Pacific hurricane season. Aletta developed from an area of disturbed weather located south-southwest of the Mexican port of Acapulco, Guerrero. It gradually gained organized convection and was classified as a tropical depression early on May 27, and became a tropical storm later that morning, the first of 2006 in the Western Hemisphere. Aletta strengthened to a tropical storm with 45 mph (75 km/h) sustained winds, while moving towards the Guerrero coast in southwestern Mexico. The storm became stationary, though it later turned to the west and weakened on May 29. Aletta continued to weaken until it dissipated on May 31. The storm dropped moderate rainfall along the Mexican coast, and generated winds that downed trees and caused minor damage.

On May 21, 2006, a tropical wave crossed Central America and entered the East Pacific. The wave drifted westward, and after several days began to interact with a low-level trough near the Gulf of Tehuantepec, and as a result deep convection increased. By May 25, a large area of low pressure formed several hundred miles south of Acapulco, Mexico. Wind shear inhibited development initially, though conditions became slightly more favorable after a number of days, and at 0600 UTC on May 27, a tropical depression formed about 190 mi (305 km) south of Acapulco.

Moving very little, the depression was disorganized due to continued shear, leaving the center of circulation west of the convective activity. By later in the morning hours of May 27, the system began to show overall signs of organization, primarily related to a burst of convection in the eastern semicircle. At the same time, the center of circulation either reformed or began to move farther north, possibly north-northeast. Embedded within the steering currents of a ridge, most forecasts anticipated the storm would drift northward for several days, though some computer models predicted the storm would eventually move inland near Acapulco. At 1800 UTC on May 27, the depression organized into a tropical storm, and as such was named Aletta by the National Hurricane Center.