There are a lot of ups and downs in tropical cyclone formation in the Pacific Ocean this week, and that’s keeping NOAA’s GOES-11 satellite busy. There are remnants of Maka and Tropical Depression 9E, a fizzled Felicia, and a new Tropical Storm named Guillermo.

The graphics folks that create images from the satellite at the GOES Project at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. are posting updated images on the GOES Project website often and forecasters are watching them.

In the Central Pacific Ocean, Maka and Felicia are now a memory. Felicia dissipated before it reached Hawaii, and the remnants of Maka are 1,400 miles west-southwest of Kauai. Maka’s remnant clouds and showers are still moving west, and it’s unlikely that it will re-organize. That means a quiet Central Pacific Ocean for the next two days.

In the Eastern Pacific, Tropical Depression 9E (TD9E) appears to be fizzling although it may get a second chance at life, while Tropical Depression 10E powered up into Tropical Storm Guillermo.

The remnants of TD9E are weakly spinning to around 30 mph, while it continues moving west-southwest near 9 mph. The center was located about 1,750 miles west-southwest of the southern tip of Baja California, near 13.9 north and 134.1 west. The National Hurricane Center noted that shower and thunderstorm activity has increased this morning, and the environment seems to be a little more conducive to strengthening, so TD9E isn’t written off yet. In fact, there’s about a 30-50% chance it may strengthen back into a tropical depression.

Meanwhile, Tropical Depression 10E gained strength took the name Guillermo and it’s sustained winds whipped up to near 50 mph. Guillermo is moving west-northwest near 16 mph and will continue in that direction. Guillermo is closer to mainland Mexico, but poses no threat as its heading away from land. On Aug. 13 at 5 a.m. EDT the storm was located 805 miles west-southwest of the southern tip of Baja California near 16.9 north and 120.5 west. His minimum central pressure is 999 millibars. Guillermo is moving into a favorable environment, so he’s expected to continue strengthening.

Even though the peak of hurricane season in the eastern and central Pacific Oceans are a month away, it seems like we’re already there.

The second tropical depression in the Atlantic Ocean is stubbornly clinging to life, and NASA satellite imagery confirms that it’s a weak storm. Meanwhile, there are two other areas in the Atlantic that forecasters are eyeing for possible development.

Today, August 13, Tropical Depression number 2 is holding onto maximum sustained winds near 30 mph, and isn’t expected to strengthen much in the next several days. It’s just expected to stay “depressed” as it keeps moving westward near 9 mph. The depression is located about 885 miles west of the southernmost Cape Verde Islands, near latitude 14.0 north and longitude 37.6 west. Minimum central pressure was 1008 millibars.

Satellite imagery indicated this morning, August 13 that there were only a few showers and thunderstorms associated with Tropical Depression 2 (TD2), and if it continues to be this weak, the system will be downgraded to a remnant low pressure area. NASA’s Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer-E, which looks at precipitable water, that is, water in the clouds that can rain down, indicated an area of drier air has almost totally wrapped around the depression, and dry air can kill a tropical cyclone.

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer on NASA’s Terra satellite flew over TD2 at 9:11 a.m. EDT (1311 UTC) on August 13 and revealed a very weak system in terms of its cloud cover.

There are other two areas in the Atlantic that forecasters are watching, and one may hold greater promise in becoming a tropical storm. The first area, which has a low chance of organizing (less than 30 percent) is associated with a tropical wave stretching north to south and about to move through Puerto Rico. It’s producing disorganized showers and thunderstorms.

The second, more favorable area is located to the east of TD2, just off the African coast. In that area, showers and thunderstorms are associated with a broad area of low pressure some 250 miles south-southeast of the Cape Verde Islands. The National Hurricane Center is giving that area a 50 percent chance of development. Right now, it’s a tropical race to see which system, either this one, or Tropical Depression 2 strengthens enough to become Tropical Storm Ana