Dances during developing storms in the Atlantic could soon evolve into one of the most unusual and unusual events in meteorology: the Fuji effect.
After Gabriel, two tropical waves could spell out the trouble
Hurricane Gabriel is set to steadily lose its tropical status on its way across the Atlantic, but what will happen next in the tropical?
Dances during developing storms in the Atlantic could soon evolve into one of the most unusual and unusual events in meteorology: the Fuji effect.
As of the morning of September 24th, two tropical systems continued to meander in the Southwest Atlantic. Neither of them are named yet, so they are called “Invest 93L” and “Invest94L” by the National Hurricane Centre. Both said they are likely to become tropical cyclones next week, but their exact path and the possibility of impacting the US remains uncertain for now, according to the Hurricane Center.
When the storm reaches tropical storm conditions, one will likely be named Hambert and the other Imelda.
While many weather models show possible land impacts primarily from 94L (probably Imelda), the track relies on 93L (Humbert), and “the Fujis effect determines the outcome,” says meteorologist Ryan Maue, a weather trader at the Materials Post on September 24th.
“The Fujis effect is rare in the Atlantic, but it can happen from time to time,” WPLG-TV hurricane specialist Michael Lowry said on the Subgels Post on September 24th.
What is the Fujis Effect?
When two storms or hurricanes rotating in the same direction get close enough to each other, they begin a fierce dance around a common center known as the Fuji Effect, the National Weather Service said.
This effect is thought to occur when the storm is about 900 miles away.
The storms involved in the Fujiwhara effect spin around each other as if they were a square dance with their arms locked in. Instead of each storm spinning the other, they are actually moving the central point between them.
A good way to imagine this is to think of two ice skaters skating towards each other right away on a collision course.
According to Weather.com, stronger storms often dominate and drag weaker storms into their cycles, but in rare cases, two storms of similar strength combine to create a single, stronger storm.
Who was Fuji?
This effect is named after Dr. Sato Fujiwara, the chief of the Central Meteorological Bureau in Japan, in Tokyo, shortly after World War I. In 1921 he wrote a paper describing the movement of “vortices” underwater. A vortex of water is a tiny vortex of water that spins.
What are the predictions for the two systems?
“It’s likely that both the 93L and 94L will develop in the coming days,” Houston-based meteorologist Matt Lanza said on September 24th that “the “wall of the eye” was “” in his subsack.
“The first thing I can say with confidence about all of this is that I’m looking at a rather long process here,” Lanza said. “We may be looking at these systems next week. 93L investments may not be a land threat (although it could bully Bermuda), but it could ultimately affect 94L investments, which could be a land threat on the Southeastern or Mid-Atlantic coast.”
But “even if 94L is weak and stays offshore next week, the upper-level pattern with a low cutoff over Tennessee Valley can pour abundant tropical air into Carolina and parts of the Southern and Central Atlantic at the beginning of next week,” Laurie said.
“This suggests that the flood threat in these areas has been strengthened since this weekend, and this will need to be followed over the next few days,” he added.
