Adding to the evidence of this mega-powerful, 'Godzilla' El Niño season coming our way, there was a period between Saturday and early Sunday when, for the first time since we've been observing our global weather, three Category-4 hurricanes were spinning simultaneously across the Pacific Ocean, on both sides of Hawaii. This was also, as the Weather Channel notes, the first time in recorded history that there were even two Cat-4 hurricanes in the central Pacific, defined as the area between the International Date Line and 140 degrees west longitude.
Category 4 is defined as a hurricane with sustained winds of 130 to 156 mph, and between Saturday night and Sunday afternoon, Hurricane Kilo (far left), Hurricane Ignacio (center), and Hurricane Jimena were all whipping up the Pacific without making landfall. Luckily for Hawaii, Hurricane Ignacio, which was the closest to the islands, quickly diminished by Monday and and swung a good 500 miles away, veering away from landfall, as the AP reported.
And, yes, some people still call Pacific hurricanes and tropical storms "typhoons."
Per Business Insider, Jimena remains a Category 4 storm but is still a few days away from reaching Hawaii.
Even moderate El Niños bring more named storms to the Pacific, however the strength of these storms all occurring together is especially dramatic, and this could be a harbinger of much more weather drama to come in the fall. The unprecedented warming caused by both El Niño and the Pacific "blog" are likely the combined culprits for the strength of the storms.
Also, ominously, there is a fourth storm, dubbed Tropical Depression Fourteen-E, which is expected to get a name in the next day or so, Tropical Storm Kevin, and potentially make landfall as a weak storm on the Baja Peninsula, and bring rain to the southwest U.S., according to the Weather Channel.
Kevin will mark the tenth named storm to move through the Pacific this season. The others have been Ela, Halola, Iune, Kilo, Loke, Guillermo, Hilda, Ignacio, and Jimena.
Previously: Video: How El Niño Works