Dora (2005)

A tropical depression formed about 125 nautical miles south of Acapulco, Mexico, at 0000 UTC on 4 July 2005 after a tropical wave moved into the region. The system strengthened to Tropical Storm Dora six hours later and moved northward briefly before turning west-northwest and then west. Dora reached its peak early on 4 July and weakened as it moved over cooler waters and began interacting with Mexico’s mountainous coast. It degenerated into a non-convective low early on 6 July and dissipated about 220 n mi west of Manzanillo by 1800 UTC 6 July.

Dora’s center passed close to the southwestern Mexican coast on 5 July, moving about 40 n mi south-southeast of Zihuatanejo around 0300 UTC. Tropical storm warnings and watches were issued from Acapulco westward to Manzanillo during 4–5 July. There were no reported landfalling hurricane-strength impacts documented in the record; the system weakened as it neared the coast and did not make a strong direct landfall at peak intensity.

The storm’s maximum sustained winds reached 40 knots (46 mph) at 1200 UTC on 4 July, with the minimum central pressure estimated at 1003 mb. At its peak it was a moderate tropical storm (below hurricane strength) and never exceeded that intensity during its short life.

Reported storm surge and rainfall values were not noted in the official observations for Dora, and no specific surge heights or rainfall totals at named cities/counties were provided in the report. Surface observations used to assess the storm included ship reports (for example, the ship Nikkei Phoenix reported 40-kt winds near the center), but the report did not list coastal tide or measured rainfall amounts for locations like Acapulco, Zihuatanejo, or Manzanillo.

There were no confirmed deaths or reports of damage associated with Dora. The storm’s interaction with coastal mountains led to inflated satellite intensity estimates at times, and many forecast models initially did not predict Dora’s brief northward turn; official track forecast errors for this storm were larger than the 1995–2004 averages, particularly at 24–36 hours.