3 hurricanes at once in the Pacific for the first time in 11 years
- Three hurricanes, Lowell, Karina, and Marie, are currently spinning simultaneously in the Central and Eastern Pacific, a rare occurrence that last happened in 2015.
Three hurricanes. One ocean. Right now.
One. Two. Three.Lowell, Karina and Marie — three separate hurricanes, three distinct centers, all pinwheeling across the Central and/or Eastern Pacific at the same moment, close enough together to land in a single satellite frame.
That's the part breaking people's brains this week. Not that a hurricane exists. That you can see three of them turning at once without zooming out.
The last time three hurricanes spun simultaneously in the Eastern or Central Pacific was 2015— Kilo, Ignacio and Jimena, notably another El Niño year.
(MORE: 4 Hurricanes At Once In Atlantic Basin )
Satellite image of three hurricanes in the Pacific Ocean
While the Pacific is lighting up, we're still waiting for a single hurricane in the Atlantic, and that it could be record long wait , there.
Wait — what if we run out of names?
Great question, and one people are genuinely asking this week.
The Eastern Pacific gets 24 names a season — the whole alphabet minus Q and U. Karina, Lowell and Marie just knocked out three of them in a row, and it's not even close to over.
So what happens at Z?
Satellite image showing the last time we saw a trio of Pacific hurricanes: Kilo, Ignacio, and Jimena. August 31, 2015.
Forecasters don't start the list over. They don't go back to the Greek alphabet either — that got retired after 2020, when Hurricane Eta and Hurricane Iota confused roughly everyone.
Basically: hurricanes have a bench. And this season, the Pacific is deep enough into the starting lineup that it's worth knowing the bench exists.
A whole second roster of names is sitting on file at the World Meteorological Organization , waiting to get called up, starting with Aidan.
Three names down, two coasts on alert
Lowell could be a danger to Hawaii and Marie is expected to push high waves and rip currents into Southern California, with a shot at thunderstorms reaching San Diego and Los Angeles.
For the full breakdown — why the Pacific got so loud, why the Atlantic went silent, and what the impacts look like day by day — read it all here .
GOES Satellite 3 hurricanes Pacific
Faiza Mohammed is a meteorologist intern at weather.com. She studied geography and worked with the Weather Dawgs team at the University of Georgia. She also received her master's in Earth and Atmospheric Sciences from the Georgia Institute of Technology.
