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Dangerous Dance: Hurricanes' Dalliance May End in 'Cannibalism'
By Megan Gannon, Live Science Contributor | July 26, 2017 11:37am ET
Several storms currently swirl in the Pacific Ocean, with two hurricanes on course for a do-si-do that may end in one dance partner cannibalizing the other.
The bigger storm, Hurricane Hilary, is located several hundred miles south of the Baja California peninsula and has wind speeds of up to 105 mph (165 km/h). Hurricane Irwin is farther west of Hilary and has been weakening, with maximum sustained winds of 80 mph (130 km/h).
Currently, the hurricanes aren't threatening any coastal areas, but they might get locked in a strange dance step known to meteorologists as the Fujiwhara effect. [A History of Destruction: 8 Great Hurricanes]
The National Hurricane Center's latest update says Irwin is expected to have some "binary interaction" with Hilary during the next two days. A binary interaction —another name for the Fujiwhara effect —happens when two hurricanes get very close to each other, within about 800 miles (1,290 km), so that their vortices, the spinning centers of the storms, interact.
More:
https://www.livescience.com/59943-pacific-hurricanes-fujiwhara-effect-cannibalism.html?utm_source=notification
