A tropical wave moved off the west coast of Africa on May 16 and crossed Central America into the Pacific Ocean on May 24. That day, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) began monitoring an area of disturbed weather about 150 mi (240 km) southwest of the Costa Rican coastline. At that time, this system was associated with a monsoon trough embedded within the Intertropical Convergence Zone. Despite being disorganized, gradual development of this system was anticipated by the NHC. On May 25, a broad low pressure area formed southwest of Nicaragua, after the tropical wave interacted with an eastward-moving Kelvin wave. Convection soon became organized around the newly formed low, and the NHC noted that the formation of a tropical cyclone within the subsequent 48 hours was likely. The NHC estimated that Tropical Depression Two-E developed at 1200 UTC on May 28 about 125 mi (205 km) south-southeast of Puerto Ángel, Oaxaca.
