will katia and lee join over USA

Just looking at the projected paths of lee and katia and was wondering if two hurricanes,tropical storms have ever merged,and wouldnt that mean a hell of alot of rain for someone

I've also been waiting for Katia to make her turn...I lost power for 2 days after last weekends hurricane, I don't want to go through that again! I have been stalking the NWS like crazy. Hopefully someone more experienced will reply to this thread. Some of us on the east coast are nervous

reply to post by theson


To better help answer that I will post an excerpt of this article:

Two Hurricanes Colliding - Can Hurricanes Merge and Become One Big Hurricane?

Think of two cars running on the same tank of gas. You could keep a straw pumping and exchanging the gas between the two cars, but eventually, one car will end up the victor. So, hurricanes and tropical system can interact with each other, but usually there is a sacrifice. Now, lets take for example two tropical storms merging in the central Atlantic. Those two storms can collide and become larger, but not more powerful. One storm is usually absorbed. The storm may later become more powerful, but that does not mean it was from the collision.

So technically...Yes it is a possibility!

now that would be something...

Like the "perfect storm"... it would prolly be stuff of what history books are made!

Would the rain amounts be increased and if so how much?

reply to post by theson


I think it would boil down to whatever the conditions were and the location of where the merge took place and the resulting future track. Intensification wouldn't come from the merge but from where the storm was after the stronger storm prevailed. This would really be the only reason the storm would produce more rainfall but the intensity of the storm thereafter is anyone's guess I would imagine.

Lee is already gone when Katia lands. Katia is moving really slow and Lee is just tropical depression when Katia is around Bermuda. So no worries.

But if they merge, they could actually drain each other strength. Other hurricane could take all energy from water, and that could weaken other since hurricanes get their strength from warm water.

I just took a look in weather underground and it seems Katia is gonna be a big one, moving slow can make it stronger before it hits the coast. Besides that, I don't see any big island on its path. Maybe by the middle of the next week we will confirm if we have more evacs here in NJ. We can't deal with more rain.

The last time I looked it seemed
that most of the projected models
show Katia turning northeast before
it gets to the coast. Let's hope so!

It's possible, but not with these two storms. Katia will be 600 miles from BERMUDA on September 6. There is no way a tropical storm would be able to stay together that long once striking land in Louisiana. Lee will be long over before even an accurate path for Katia will be available.

Originally posted by lpowell0627
It's possible, but not with these two storms. Katia will be 600 miles from BERMUDA on September 6. There is no way a tropical storm would be able to stay together that long once striking land in Louisiana. Lee will be long over before even an accurate path for Katia will be available.

In theory you are right, and I agree. But we've seen wierd things this year, so I'll give it a 1% of chances anyway.