Mega-hurricane novel to carry you to storm season

[carolinarr]

What would happen if three hurricanes slammed into one another? Would they simply break up? Or something else? In the novel "Cat-X" three hurricanes fuse together into one huge mega-hurricane, a cat-"x" since it's far bigger than any cat-5. Something to ponder 'til the storm season rolls in. You can view it at Cat-X Novel

[Hurricanehink]

Hmm.... interesting concept. It should still be considered a Category 5, though I won't nit-pick. It's cool how they try to use hurricanes and such in fiction. By the way, welcome to Storm2k.

[cycloneye]

Welcome to storm2k and to the best forum for tropical weather.

[Anonymous]

I actually have thought about this. What if one's outflow was the others inflow, while the other's inflow was one's outflow?

[wxman57]

I actually have thought about this. What if one's outflow was the others inflow, while the other's inflow was one's outflow?

Don't forget that outflow occurs at the top of the hurricane at the 45-50 thousand foot level and inflow occurs in the lower levels. So one storm's outflow could well cause increased wind shear and disrupt the outflow from the other storm.

But there have been mergers of two storms quite often in the past. This is more common in the Pacific, but it has happened in the Atlantic. Generally, the two storms begin interacting with one another (Fujiwhara effect). The dominant storm generally draws in the smaller storm and absorbs it. Here's a picture of such an interaction:

http://www.photolib.noaa.gov/historic/n ... a00481.jpg

And here's a paper that discusses the effect with 3 systems - 2 tropical cyclones and a third vorticity maximum:
http://www.bom.gov.au/bmrc/clfor/cfstaf ... ul26a.html

As for what happens when several storms merge, I don't think you can assume that there will be a net increase in wind speed in the surviving storm, at least not initially. Typically, two storms in close proximity tend to disrupt each other's inflow/outflow, causing an intensity reduction.