Eugene (2017)

A tropical depression formed about 700 nautical miles south of the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula on 7 July 2017 and became Tropical Storm Eugene six hours later. The storm moved northwestward and spent its entire life over open waters. Eugene intensified rapidly between 8 and 9 July, reached peak strength on 9 July, then moved across much colder water and weakened quickly to a tropical storm by 11 July. Deep convection ended and Eugene became post-tropical on 12 July; the remnant low dissipated by 14 July about 930 nmi west of southern Baja California.

Eugene did not make landfall. Its track stayed well offshore of Mexico for the entire lifetime of the cyclone, and no watches or warnings were required for land.

The hurricane reached a peak intensity of 100 kt (115 mph) with a minimum central pressure of 966 mb at 1800 UTC on 9 July 2017. That peak made Eugene a Category 3 major hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale; the major-hurricane intensity lasted about 30 hours before the storm weakened rapidly.

Because Eugene remained over the open Pacific, there were no storm-surge observations tied to coastal impacts and no reported rainfall totals at land locations in the NHC report. The report states there were no reports of damage or casualties associated with the storm.

There were no confirmed deaths—direct or indirect—and no reported destruction tied to Eugene. The regions most affected were only open-ocean areas; no land areas experienced impacts requiring reports of damage or casualties.

Forecasting of Eugene’s genesis and track was very good: the disturbance was identified well in advance and official track errors were below recent averages. However, intensity forecasts struggled with the storm’s rapid intensification on 8–9 July and the rapid weakening on 10 July; none of the official forecasts during those periods correctly anticipated those large, rapid intensity changes.