SAN DIEGO - (INT) - The Eastern Pacific hurricane season for 2016 is underway and it's getting a jump start.

The National Hurricane Center, which monitors the eastern Pacific in addition to the Atlantic, highlighted a disturbance far out in the Pacific. However, it didn't have much of a chance of developing.

The hurricane center said the disturbance was located bout 1,100 miles south of the southern tip of the Baja California Peninsula and was moving west at about 15 mph.

Hurricane season in the Eastern Pacific starts about two weeks earlier than that in the Atlantic, but both run until November 30th.

The hurricane center said that long-term average for the Eastern Pacific is:

15 named storms
8 hurricanes
4 major hurricanes

NOAA hasn't released its outlook for the 2016 season for the Eastern Pacific. However, it is not expected to be quite as busy as 2015 thanks in part to a waning El Nino and the possible development of La Nina. La Nina conditions typically help suppress tropical storm development in the eastern Pacific while increasing favorable conditions in the Atlantic.

The 2015 season had 18 named storms, 13 hurricanes and nine major hurricanes, which was well above the historical average.

Story Date: June 7, 2016