Rick (2015)

A tropical depression formed about 620 nautical miles south-southeast of the southern tip of the Baja California Peninsula on 18 November 2015 from a westward-moving tropical wave. The system moved generally northward then west-northwest and west through 21 November as a mid-level ridge steered it, and turned northwest on 22 November as it approached a weakness in that ridge. Convection gradually diminished and the cyclone weakened to a remnant low on 22 November about 585 n mi west-southwest of southern Baja; the remnant low persisted until dissipating on 26 November.

The storm remained well offshore for its entire life. No coastal watches or warnings were issued and there were no landfalls associated with this system.

Peak intensity was 35 knots (40 mph) with a minimum central pressure of about 1002 millibars, making Rick a minimal tropical storm at its strongest. Rick never reached hurricane strength.

Because Rick stayed far from land, there were no reports of storm surge impacts. There were also no reports of significant rainfall totals or flooding tied to Rick at populated locations or named cities/counties in the official record.

There were no reports of damage or casualties—no direct or indirect deaths were attributed to Rick. The greatest impacts were limited to open-ocean conditions and no coastal effects were reported.

Noteworthy items: the precursor disturbance was only highlighted in official outlooks about 36 hours before formation, so genesis was poorly anticipated. Official track forecasts had larger-than-average errors for this storm, while intensity forecasts were modestly accurate compared with recent years. Several numerical models (notably ECMWF and the Canadian model) outperformed the official track forecast for Rick.