What's in the photo? Hurricane Madeline (left) and Hurricane Lester (right)
When was it taken? Aug. 29, 2016
The surprisingly symmetrical storms — Hurricane Madeline (left) and Hurricane Lester (right) — were the 14th and 13th named storms, respectively, during 2016's Pacific hurricane season, which is tied for the sixth-most-active year on record, with 22 total named storms.
On Aug. 30, the day after the image was taken, Madeline was just under 400 miles (650 kilometers) from Hawaii's Big Island, while Lester was around 900 miles (1,450 km) behind on the same trajectory, according to NASA's Earth Observatory. At the time, meteorologists were uncertain whether the pair would hit the island.
When viewed on a radar-based weather map, the hurricanes look like they are staring up into space even more. (Image credit: National Weather Service)
Madeline eventually passed south of Hawaii on Aug. 31. However, by then, it had been downgraded to Category 1. Lester passed north of the Big Island on Sept. 2 and came within around 130 miles (210 km) of Honolulu, before sharply turning northward, where it petered out.
Despite being in the middle of the corridor where most Pacific hurricanes form, Hawaii's islands have surprising good luck in avoiding the supercharged storms.
Hawaii usually manages to dodge the worst effects of hurricanes for two reasons. First, the islands are surrounded by a near-constant area of high pressure on their eastern side, where most hurricanes come from. Second, strong winds often blow eastward across the islands, according to FOX Weather. These factors create a sort of invisible shield around the islands, causing storms to skirt around them.
While hurricanes almost never make landfall in Hawaii, they often come close enough to trigger strong gusts of wind on the islands. (Image credit: Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)For example, in August and September, two hurricanes — Lowell and Lala — skimmed unusually closely past the island of Kauai, causing a significant amount of damage to power lines, boats and other coastal infrastructure. Researchers think the ongoing "super" El Niño, which officially began in May and has already caused record-breaking sea surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean, may be partially to blame for these storms, according to The Guardian.
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