Pacific Trio

Rare Trio of Hurricanes over the Pacific Ocean 

As common as hurricanes are it is not common to have multiple in one place. This Saturday, 8/29/15, there were three category four hurricanes in the pacific ocean for the first time in history. Hurricane Kilo had the speed of 135 mph, Hurricane Ignacio and Hurricane Jimena both had speeds of 140 mph. Category four hurricanes are classified as storms with the maximum winds of 130-156 mph. This rare weather event is credited to El Nino; a common and rather unknown warming of the central and eastern pacific ocean. When El Nino occurs wind shear is diminished allowing for these storms to form with more ease than with usual weather conditions. These storms stayed category four storms until Sunday, 8/30/15, at 5pm when Kilo and Ignacio diminished into category three hurricanes. Even though Hurricane Ignacio has been lowered to a category three hurricane it is still threatening Hawaii.


Three Category 4 hurricanes on Sunday morning in the Pacific Ocean, Kilo (left), Ignacio (center), and Jimena (right).

http://www.weather.com/storms/hurricane/news/three-category-4-hurricanes-pacific-kilo-ignacio-jimena