As Henri Gets Closer, Another Storm Develops: What Will Happen if They Merge?

When one storm is significantly stronger than the other, the smaller storm will generally revolve around the larger one. But, when both storms are of equal power, they tend to orbit a shared core. Can two extreme weather events merge?

For several days, the First Alert weather team has been watching the active Tropical Atlantic, but now two tropical storms have made their way into their forecast.

Residual precipitation from once-tropical cyclone Fred has spread across the northeast. While most of the rain is concentrated in the Appalachian Mountains, Pennsylvania, and upstate New York on Wednesday, showers, and spells of rain are spreading east over northern New England. Southern New England will be hit by a few showers on Wednesday, especially in the afternoon.

Humidity Rising

Humidity is on the rise Wednesday, thanks to a strong south and southwest breeze. As a result, temperatures are climbing into the 80s despite having many clouds and only a few hours of sun.

More rain is expected to join the showers across northern and central New England during Wednesday night, but most of the rain will fall on Thursday. Rain will arrive in the Cape and eastern Maine last, around lunchtime and afternoon, respectively, after spreading from west to east during the morning.

The NBC Boston weather team has issued a First Alert for possible downpours and thunder on Thursday, which could impede traffic and cause localized flooding, especially in northern and western New England. Later Thursday, showers and downpours will arrive sporadically.

Increased Weather Activity

Friday will likely bring a little respite from the weather activity, with only a few showers and some sun breaks. However, during the afternoon, the humid air will raise temperatures to between 85 and 90 degrees! The next storm to hit New England will bring a higher probability of showers on Saturday, especially in the afternoon, and humid air will linger into next week.

Their main concern is for Sunday and Monday, when Tropical Storm Henri, south of Bermuda as of Wednesday morning, is expected to intensify into a hurricane over the warm Gulf Stream waters and head northward, paralleling the East Coast. How the impending storm from the west interacts with Henri will determine the outlook for Sunday and Monday.

Henri Merging with Another Storm

As a storm approaches, Henri is most likely to get a bump to the northeast, allowing the hurricane to veer out to sea to the southeast but creating an increasing surge in the coastal waters and a rip current on the beaches. However, if the incoming storm is slow enough and strong enough, it will not be able to push Henri out to sea, and the two systems will instead merge, bringing the hurricane near to or even over New England.

This worst-case scenario is unlikely at this time, but it's not out of the realm of possibility. That's why the National Hurricane Center's projected cone of the likelihood for a probable center-passage Sunday into Monday included both Chatham and Nantucket on Wednesday morning.

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