Weather Tidbits: The Fujiwhara Effect

This edition of Weather Tidbits will be discussing the Fujiwhara Effect. The Fujiwhara Effect is the interaction when two cyclones approach close to each other. According to the Fujiwhara Effect, when two cyclones come close to each other, they will orbit around a common point. Some describe this as an atmospheric dance.

This phenomenon was discovered by Dr. Sakuhei Fujiwhara, who was a Japanese meteorologist and researcher. He published the article called “The Natural Tendency Toward Symmetry of Motion and its Application as a Principal in Meteorology” in October 1921. This describes how two vortices behave when they approach each other. They will interact via the Fujiwhara Effect. This is applicable to cyclones because cyclones are types of vortices. During the interaction, if one cyclone is stronger than the other, the weaker cyclone will usually get absorbed. They’ll likely gravitate toward each other if each cyclone is near the same strength. On very rare occasions, the two cyclones could merge into one stronger storm.