Fujiwhara Effect Displayed in Eastern Pacific

Time for a bit of weather buzz and weather 101 in the same post! There are a couple tropical systems in the eastern Pacific that may soon begin to exhibit a cool meteorological phenomenon. That phenomenon is known as the Fujiwhara Effect. The Fujiwhara Effect is when two nearby cyclonic vortices orbit each other and close the distance between the circulations of their corresponding low-pressure areas.

Fujiwhara Effect Schematic - h/t hko.gov — Fujiwhara Effect Schematic – h/t hko.gov

The Fujiwhara Effect is named after Dr. Fujiwhara of Japan who performed a series of experiments and observations on water vortices from 1921 to 1923.

The National Weather Service in Boise, ID has put together a nice video demonstrating the Fujiwhara Effect in the eastern Pacific. It’s pretty neat stuff!