Will we have 2 hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico?

We continue to monitor both Tropical Storm Laura and Tropical Depression #14. There is still quite a bit of uncertainty in the future tracks but there is the possible scenario of both systems heading to the Gulf of Mexico.

Tropical Storm Laura continues to slowly strengthen and move to the west in the general direction of Florida and the Gulf of Mexico.

Tropical Depression #14 is slowly becoming more organized and is expected to become a hurricane as it moves into the Gulf of Mexico.

Could we have two hurricanes join forces and make a mega hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico? 2020 has been an unbelievable year, but it is NOT going to give us a “mega” hurricane. There is the possibility the two tropical systems could interact with each other. This is known as the Fujiwhara effect. If one system is much stronger than the other it will tend to absorb the weaker system. It does not make the remaining system stronger, it just gets the moisture from the weaker system. If the two tropical systems are about the same strength then they will tend to move around each other and change course. How much interaction determines how much they change course.

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