Western Pacific expected to dance with year’s first Typhoon with Rare Fujiwhara effect

There are currently two active tropical cyclones well east of Japan. The westernmost one is named ‘Noru’ and the other is ‘Kulap’, located about 1,000 miles to the east-northeast of Noru.

Some experts suggests Noru may essentially ingest Kulap. Then it can become an intense typhoon and either remain sitting in place or move a bit west or west-northwest into the week ahead, if not the following week. It certainly makes for strange-looking model forecast tracks.

According to a Japanese researcher who depicts Fujiwhara effect in early 1920’s suggests Fujiwhara effect details how two tropical cyclones 800 to 900 miles apart rotate counter-clockwise about one another. Think of the teacup ride at Disney or the Tilt-a-Whirl at your local county fair, but with tropical systems instead.

The Weather Channel reports, Tropical Depression 08W will eventually fizzle near China’s Hainan Island this weekend, hile Tropical Depression Roke tracks into southeast China north of Hong Kong. Both will bring a threat of locally heavy rainfall.

If that wasn’t enough, another disturbed area, Invest 99W, is likely to become the next west Pacific named storm sometime in the week ahead and could pose a threat to Taiwan late in the week as a typhoon, according to the report.

It suggests, Noru is expected to eventually become a typhoon by early in the week but will meander over the next five days well east of Japan.

Kulap, however, should make significant progress toward the west-northwest and may become close enough to begin an intricate, possibly fatal dance with Noru.

Other data suggests Noru and Kulap may, essentially, pinwheel around each other, something meteorologists call the Fujiwhara effect.

Meteorological scientist Dr. Michael Ventrice said Noru could be center of gravity, meaning the smaller Kulap is forecast to cyclonically orbit the larger system for a couple of days.

Ventrice believes Noru’s outflow will suppress convection for the smaller Kulap once they begin to interact.

Experts blame clogged-up upper atmosphere for this occurrence.