Fujiwhara Effect: Powerful storm system hitting California causes rare occurrence

The latest in an onslaught of a dozen Pacific storms this year brought extreme winds and a rare atmospheric phenomenon on Tuesday.

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Powerful storm system hitting California causes Fujiwhara Effect

The Fujiwhara Effect has been observed many times with typhoons in the Pacific Ocean, but is extremely rare with small circulations like those pictures here near San Francisco.

The Fujiwhara Effect was first described by Japanese meteorologist Sakuhei Fujiwhara in the 1920s. He predicted that two cyclones, such as typhoons, will rotate or orbit around each other in a counter-clockwise direction. This effect has been observed many times with typhoons in the Pacific Ocean, but is extremely rare with small circulations like those pictures here near San Francisco.

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A large area of low pressure briefly split into two distinct rotations that can be described as "mesoscale vortices". Those smaller areas of low pressure then rotated around each other counter-clockwise before slamming into the coast.

Extreme winds hit most of California on Tuesday with wind gusts above 80 miles per hour in the mountains near San Jose and an incredible gust of 102 mph in the hills north of Los Angeles.

So, will this system affect Texas? Yes. A stream of high winds well above the ground at the jet stream level will increase our chances for storms statewide beginning Thursday. Severe weather is possible in West Texas with the focus shifting eastward on Friday. The Houston area will likely have a round of rain on Friday, but most models are showing the majority of the strongest weather staying to our north.

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