ORLANDO, Fla. – Hurricane Humberto is no stranger to the Atlantic — and if you think you’ve heard the name before, you’re not wrong. This is the sixth time the name “Humberto” has been used since it replaced the retired “Hugo” back in 1989. Over the years, Humberto has ranged from quiet ocean spinner to a damaging landfall storm. But now, the 2025 version of Humberto is the most intense yet.
And it may be gearing up for something rare — and oddly beautiful — in the world of meteorology: the Fujiwhara Effect.
Right now, Tropical Storm Imelda is churning in the Atlantic, and depending on how the next 24-48 hours go, it could get close enough to Humberto to trigger this unusual phenomenon. If that happens, the two systems could influence each other’s path.
It’s rare in the Atlantic, mostly because storms don’t often get close enough.
It depends on their size. Big storms can trigger the Fujiwhara Effect within 850 miles of each other. Smaller ones? They only need about 350 miles. Once they’re that close, the dance can begin.
Both storms are about less than 800 miles away from each other. So things could interesting in the next few days.
The wild card? This dance could pull Imelda away from the U.S. coastline — a good outcome.
Flashback to 1995
Here’s where it gets eerie: this isn’t Humberto’s first Fujiwhara rodeo.
In 1995, another Hurricane Humberto — a Category 2 storm — got caught in the Fujiwhara Effect with Hurricane Iris. The two spun close to one another in late August, disrupting each other’s structures. Both weakened: Iris was downgraded to a tropical storm, and Humberto gradually weakened and was eventually absorbed by another storm on Sept. 1.
But Iris wasn’t done. About a week later, it had another encounter — this time with Tropical Storm Karen. That interaction ended with Iris absorbing Karen, since Karen was the weaker of the two systems.
So, in the span of a few days, Iris interacted with two separate storms — weakening one and swallowing the other.
Now, 30 years later, history might be trying to repeat itself — but this time Humberto may be the storm leading the dance.
So, What Are the Chances?
Honestly, it’s too soon to say for sure. A lot depends on the path and timing of both storms over the next 48–72 hours. But the setup is there.
If they do get close enough, and the Fujiwhara Effect kicks in, we could see Imelda pulled away from the U.S. East Coast — which would be great news for beach towns and coastal residents.