Two major hurricanes are vying to become the first to strike Big Island of Hawaii
In the vast Pacific Ocean, the island state of Hawaii is a relatively small target for hurricanes to hit. In fact, no hurricane has ever made a direct hit on the Big Island of Hawaii in recorded history.
Right now, however, not one but two storms are vying to become the first to do so, with Hurricanes Madeline and Lester churning the waters of the Pacific Ocean, on course for a close encounter with the Big Island later this week.
Hurricane Madeline, which had maximum sustained winds of 115 miles per hour making it a Category 3 storm as of 5:00 p.m. ET, is projected to curve into or south of the Big Island between Wednesday and Thursday, local time.
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The National Hurricane Center also issued a hurricane watch for Hawaii County (which encompasses all of the Big Island) on Monday.
"A Hurricane Watch is typically issued 48 hours before the anticipated first occurrence of tropical storm force winds... conditions that make outside preparations difficult or dangerous," the center said in a statement.
Hurricane Lester, which is a more formidable Category 4 storm, is following about 1,000 miles behind Madeline, with maximum sustained winds of 130 miles per hour.
It is projected to pass over or to the north of the Big Island on Saturday.
Both of these storms have the potential to bring high seas, heavy rain and strong winds to the Big Island regardless of whether they make landfall as a hurricane or not.
Hawaii, particularly the easternmost islands, is traditionally inhospitable territory for hurricanes due to relatively cool ocean waters that can weaken hurricanes and tropical storms.
However, these waters are milder than average for this time of year, which could aid in sustaining a storm as it moves closer to the islands.
In an interesting twist, if Lester and Madeline get close enough to one another -- about 700 miles apart -- they could interact with one another in what is known as the Fujiwara Effect. This would cause each storm to rotate cyclonically around a point in between them.
A Fujiwara dance, which is a possibility that meteorologists Jeff Masters and Bob Henson of WeatherUnderground raised on Monday, could help shunt Hurricane Madeline further south while pushing Hurricane Lester to the north. This would increase the likelihood of two missed storms for the Big Island.
In other words, two storms may be better than one for Hawaii.
Andrew Freedman is Mashable's Senior Editor for Science and Special Projects. Prior to working at Mashable, Freedman was a Senior Science writer for Climate Central. He has also worked as a reporter for Congressional Quarterly and Greenwire/E&E Daily. His writing has also appeared in the Washington Post, online at The Weather Channel, and washingtonpost.com, where he wrote a weekly climate science column for the "Capital Weather Gang" blog. He has provided commentary on climate science and policy for Sky News, CBC Radio, NPR, Al Jazeera, Sirius XM Radio, PBS NewsHour, and other national and international outlets. He holds a Masters in Climate and Society from Columbia University, and a Masters in Law and Diplomacy from The Fletcher School at Tufts University.
