Can Two or More Hurricanes Merge into One Super-Storm

Many of todays sci-fi and disaster films include plots where hurricanes merge into one super-storm. But what would happen if two or more storms  actually did collide? Believe it or not, this can and does occur in nature (although not on a scale that impacts the entire globe) and albeit rare.  Lets look at several examples of these types of interactions. The Fujiwhara Effect Named for Dr.  Sakarei Fujiwhara, the Japanese meteorologist who first observed the behavior, the Fujiwhara effect describes the orbiting of two or more weather features  that are in close proximity to each other. Ordinary low-pressure systems typically interact when theyre 1,200 miles or less from meeting. Tropical cyclones and hurricanes can interact whenever the distance between them is under 900 miles.  This can happen when they form very near to each other or are steered on an intersecting path by upper-level winds.   So what happens whenever storms collide? Do they  merge into one big super-storm? Do they damage each other? In the Fujiwhara effect, the storms dance around the common  mid-point between them. Sometimes this is as far as the interaction goes. At other times (especially if one system is much stronger or larger than the other), the cyclones will eventually spiral in towards that pivot point and merge into a single  storm. Examples  include: During the 1995 Atlantic hurricane season,  Hurricane Iris interacted with Hurricane Humberto, then interacted with and absorbed Tropical Storm Karen.In the fall of  2005, Hurricane Wilma absorbed Tropical Storm Alpha shortly after crossing south Florida and the Florida Keys.   The Fujiwhara effect tends to involve systems that rotate, but cyclone s  dont only interact with other cyclones.   The Perfect Storm One of weather historys most famous examples of weather features joining together is the East Coasts 1991 Perfect Storm, the result of a cold front that exited the U.S. East Coast, a large low just east of Nova Scotia, and  Hurricane Grace   Ã‚   Superstorm Sandy Sandy was the most destructive storm of the 2012  Atlantic hurricane season. Sandy merged with a frontal system  just a few days before Halloween, hence the name superstorm. Just days earlier, Sandy had merged with an arctic front pushing south across Kentucky, the result of which was over a foot of snowfall in the eastern part of the state and 1-3 feet across West Virginia.   Since the merging of fronts is how noreasters are normally born, many began calling Sandy a nor-eastercane (noreaster hurricane).   Updated by Tiffany Means Resource Annual Summary of the 1995 Atlantic Hurricane Season