Fujiwhara Effect

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Context

• On September 1, 2022, super typhoon Hinnamnor, the strongest tropical cyclone of the year, was hurtling towards Taiwan from the western Pacific Ocean. Another tropical storm called Gardo was moving towards Hinnamnor from its southeast.
• As the two approached each other, they started a dance around the central line between them, showcasing a textbook example of what is known as the Fujiwhara Effect.

Fujiwhara Effect

• The Fujiwhara effect, is a phenomenon that occurs when two nearby cyclonic vortices move around each other and close the distance between the circulations of their corresponding low-pressure areas. The effect is named after Sakuhei Fujiwhara, the Japanese meteorologist who initially described the effect.
• Binary interaction of smaller circulations can cause the development of a larger cyclone, or cause two cyclones to merge into one.
• Extratropical cyclones typically engage in binary interaction when within 2,000 kilometres of one another, while tropical cyclones typically interact within 1,400 kilometres of each other.

Description

• When cyclones are in proximity of one another, their centers will circle each other cyclonically (counter-clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere) about a point between the two systems due to their cyclonic wind circulations.
• The two vortices will be attracted to each other, and eventually spiral into the center point and merge. It has not been agreed upon whether this is due to the divergent portion of the wind or vorticity advection.
• When the two vortices are of unequal size, the larger vortex will tend to dominate the interaction, and the smaller vortex will circle around it. The effect is named after Sakuhei Fujiwhara, the Japanese meteorologist who initially described it in a 1921 paper about the motion of vortices in water.

https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/climate-change/perfect-storm-what-is-the-fujiwhara-effect--85337