Tropical Storm Trudy formed Tuesday in the Pacific, formerly designated Tropical Depression 21-E, with maximum sustained winds of 40 mph and located about 490 miles south of Mexico. FOX Weather reports it is the 22nd named storm of the Pacific hurricane season.

According to the FOX Forecast Center, the system is becoming better organized, with thunderstorms wrapping around its center as it strengthens steadily.

Trudy is forecast to strengthen into a powerful Category 4 or stronger hurricane, potentially reaching maximum sustained winds of 140 mph later this week. If it does, FOX Weather notes it would become the ninth Category 4 and Category 5 hurricane of the 2026 season.

Rapid intensification is possible as the storm moves over very warm waters and encounters favorable atmospheric conditions — the same pattern that has powered an exceptional parade of storms this year.

The Eastern Pacific's record-breaking 2026 season shows no sign of slowing.

PBS NewsHour reports that since Odalys formed on September 20, activity has been, in Colorado State researcher Phil Klotzbach's words, 'berserk,' with the basin east of the date line surpassing its 2018 accumulated cyclone energy record on Sunday.

Researchers point to a supersized El Niño, weak wind shear, and unusually deep warm water as reasons nearly everything that spins up lasts a long time and gets powerful.

As Trudy organizes, Hurricane Simon continues to threaten Mexico.

CBS News reports the death toll from Simon and the remnants of Tropical Storm Rachel rose to six on Tuesday after heavy rains triggered flooding and landslides along Mexico's Pacific coast, with rescuers searching Ensenada where floodwaters swept away vehicles and five people remain missing.

Simon, a Category 1 storm with 90 mph winds, is bringing heavy rain to Nayarit and Sinaloa states, where authorities remain on alert for rising rivers.

Trudy is forecast to move northwest before turning toward the north-northwest, and could approach the southwestern or west-central Mexican coast as a powerful hurricane.

According to FOX Weather, some forecast models indicate a possible landfall, though confidence in the exact track remains low, and increasing wind shear or land interaction could eventually weaken the system.

Simon may turn northeast and make landfall along Sinaloa late Friday into Saturday, though the forecast remains uncertain and it could lose tropical characteristics before reaching land.

Residents along Mexico's Pacific coast are being urged to monitor forecast updates closely as Trudy intensifies and Simon lingers offshore.

PBS NewsHour quotes University at Albany professor Kristen Corbosiero saying that with very favorable El Niño conditions, 'as long as there's some sort of the seeds either from the gyre or from remnant ends of cold fronts, it seems like this is going to continue for a bit' — meaning more storms are likely before the season fades.