THE dreaded typhoon Kristine may encircle or re-loop back to the country anew as another typhoon ‘Leon’ is coming. If this happens, it may result to what is called as a Fujiwara effect in the weather experts’ parlance.
‘Leon’ (international name, Kong-Rey) is approaching the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) sometime on Sunday, according to Science Watch Philippines.
‘Leon’ has predicted to have almost 1,300 km in diameter, according to the report of Japan Metrological Agency. This is wider than ‘Kristine’s’ 1,100 km.
The Fujiwara Effect happens when two nearby storms, like hurricanes or tropical storms, start to spin around each other. They might join together into one big storm, or the stronger storm could pull in the weaker one. This effect often happens with tropical storms and can lead to more severe weather, according to PH Chemistry.
Science Watch Philippines (SWP) said that the country experienced sometime in 2016 when typhoon “Karen” (international name Sarika) and super typhoon “Lawin” (Haima) followed each other in lashing Luzon. Both hit hard some parts of Luzon that left suffering of their victims.
“Karen”and “Lawin” were then changed to ‘Kristine’ and ‘Leon’ in 2020 since repeating the names of the typhoons are being practiced every four years (2016, 2020, 2024), the damage they left behind amounted to over P1 billion and 300 are victims, SWP said. But SWP did not said if it was a typical example of Fujiwara effect.
The National Aeronautics Space Administration (NASA) Earth Observatory cited as an example of a Fujiwara effect of two typhoons chasing or combining each other’s force.
“In January 2015, two tropical cyclones— Diamondra and Eunice—swirled over the central Indian Ocean. Neither storm was particularly strong, nor were they expected to make landfall or cause significant damage. But their close proximity offered striking views to satellites.”
The two storms were about 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) apart on January 28, 2015, when VIIRS imaged them. Eunice, the stronger of the two, was located to the west of Diamondra. Eunice had maximum sustained winds of about 160 kilometers (100 miles) per hour, while Diamondra’s maximum winds topped out at about 100 kilometers (60 miles). Both storms were moving in a southeasterly direction. If two tropical cyclones draw near each other, they begin to rotate cyclonically around an axis connecting their centers—something meteorologists call the Fujiwhara Effect. Such binary storms can even merge if their centers get close enough. (rvo)
