The Fujiwhara effect is when two independent areas of low pressure become close enough to one another that they will rotate around a common center. This could occur over Arkansas and in our region later this week as a weakening Hurricane Helene is pulled towards the low centered over Arkansas. Eventually Helene will be sheared apart and absorbed into the cutoff low. This phenomenon is incredibly rare at this latitude! This will happen between Thursday and Saturday once hurricane Helene makes lan

It’s called the Fujiwhara effect after a Japanese meteorologist, Dr. Sakuhei Fujiwhara, who first described it in 1921. It’s a fascinating interaction between two nearby tropical cyclones (or other vortices like low-pressure systems). Here’s how it works: The Basics When two tropical cyclones form close enough to each other (usually within about 800–900 miles), their circulations begin to interact. Instead of moving independently, they start to rotate, or orbit, around a common center point betw