sciencetech-blog

comments

A procession of ferocious storms has been lining up across the Pacific Ocean, with three of the most deadly set to hit land.

A spectacular satellite image this morning revealed an unsettled Earth with Typhoon Halong, Hurricane Genevieve, Hurricane Iselle, and Hurricane Julion simultaneously churning up the ocean.

The image, taken at 00:00 UTC (1:00 BST), shows the storms far from land – but they have since travelled and are about to unleash their force on Hawaii and Japan.

The Pacific Ocean hosts a quartet of tropical cyclones - from left to right - Typhoon Halong, Hurricane Genevieve (which kept travelling west to become Typhoon Genevieve), Hurricane Iselle, and Hurricane Julio

'I can't remember the last time when there were four storms of such intensity travelling the Pacific Ocean at the same time,' Julian Heming, a tropical prediction scientist at the Met Office told MailOnline.

'Ocean temperatures in the Eastern Pacific are a little bit above average and that has helped storms to strengthen the storms a bit more,' he added.

Above-normal sea surface temperatures in the far eastern tropical Pacific have persisted this year - characteristic of an El Niño event.

El Niño refers to a set of conditions when the surface of the sea in an area along the Equator in the central and eastern Pacific Ocean becomes hotter than usual.

Iselle was supposed to weaken as it slowly trudged west across the Pacific. It didn't - and now Hawaii is poised to take its first direct hurricane hit in 22 years.

The image, taken at 00:00 UTC (1:00 BST), shows the storms far from land – but they have since travelled and are about to unleash their force on Hawaii and Japan

'What ended up happening is the storm has resurged just enough to keep its hurricane strength,' said Mike Cantin, a meteorologist with the US National Weather Service.

Mr Cantin said that means stronger winds, though rainfall estimates of 12 cm to 20 cm in a short time frame remained unchanged.

'Not a major hurricane, but definitely enough to blow things around,' he said.

Tracking close behind it was Hurricane Julio, which strengthened just after the image was taken into a Category 2 storm.

The National Weather Service in Honolulu warned Thursday that gusts up to 55 mph could lash the islands, damaging buildings in its path.

'The physical size in terms of its diameter that you see in the image doesn't necessarily tell us how intense it is at the centre,' said Mr Heming.

'For instance, Halon in the West Pacific is the largest in terms of how size, and Genevieve is one of the most compact but also the strongest.'

Japan is also bracing itself for high waves and heavy rain this weekend, where Halong is forecast to make landfall.

Halong will hit Kyushu Saturday local time and slam into western Shikoku Saturday evening with winds of between 85 to 100 mph.

Typhoon Halong shown at 00:00 UTC (1:00 BST) on 6 August 2014 as it gradually makes its way towards Japan. The country is bracing itself for high waves and heavy rain this weekend, where Halong is forecast to make landfall. Halong will hit Kyushu Saturday local time and slam into western Shikoku Saturday evening

The composite image was made up of infra-red data from the geostationary satellites of the Japan Meteorological Agency and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

A separate storm, out of shot, which that has been battering the Caribbean has a 60 per cent chance of hitting the south of England, the Met Office has warned.

The remains of hurricane Bertha, which has now weakened in to an Atlantic storm, will come steadily towards the UK during the next few days.

Forecasters now predict it is expected to pass over, or close to, the UK from early on Sunday after initially believing the UK was 'likely' to stay out of its path.

While the south of England is most at risk, there is a 30 per cent chance the storm could pass across the north of France and just miss the UK.

Hurricane Iselle pictured over the Pacific Ocean, where it is moving gradually westwards towards Hawai'i. Iselle is described by the National Hurricane Center as an annular hurricane, because it has a large symmetrical eye with relatively little convection to create rain bands outside the centre