AFP reported on September 3 that 3 storms are raging simultaneously in the Pacific Ocean. This is a rare phenomenon that scientists believe the cause comes from seawater heated up by an unprecedentedly strong El Nino.
Tropical storm Marie has strengthened into a storm on the night of September 2nd off the coast of Baja California (USA), following 2 storms Karina and Lowell - both classified as Category 4 - moving west, crossing the Pacific Ocean.
3 storms appearing at the same time is "rare", said Julia Cole, a climate scientist at the University of Michigan, to AFP.
The warming caused by El Nino creates a premise for these storms, which are largely fueled by warm water. As the tropical Pacific region becomes hotter than usual, we see the number of strong storms increasing," Ms. Cole analyzed.
According to the US National Hurricane Center (NHC), Hurricane Lowell is about 710km south of Hilo, Hawaii and "expected to maintain strong typhoon intensity in the next few days".
Hawaii is still overcoming the consequences of Typhoon Lala, the storm that swept south of Big Island last month, bringing devastating gusts of wind and severe flash floods.
The NHC said Karina weakened slightly as it moved northwest, but is likely to maintain storm intensity in the next few days. Marie is following Lowell and Karina east, about 603.5km southwest of the southernmost tip of the Baja California peninsula and is forecast to strengthen in the coming days.
Warm seawater provides fuel for storms, while the impact of El Nino on the atmosphere reduces the severity of vertical winds in the Pacific Ocean, creating favorable conditions for storms to strengthen.
The climate system has warmed significantly in the past 20 years," said Benjamin Kirtman, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Miami (USA). The difference in sea surface temperatures compared to the average has now approached a record high. "There is no other way to express it - out there the ocean is very energy-rich," he told AFP.
A similar trend occurred in 2015, another intense El Nino year, when storms Kilo, Ignacio, Jimena and tropical depression 14E simultaneously crossed the Pacific Ocean.
