Rare moment 3 tropical cyclones in Pacific captured from space

A rare trio of tropical cyclones was spotted over the Pacific. Warming in the Eastern Pacific Ocean caused by El Niño created conditions for storms to develop in this region. El Niño is a climate pattern in which sea surface temperatures in the tropical eastern and central Pacific rise above their long-term average, typically every two to seven years. Warmer seas provide more heat and moisture to the lower atmosphere, lowering air pressure and helping thunderstorms organize into rotating tropical cyclones. Cyclones Lowell and Karina were predicted to reach Category 3 or 4 strength, while Marie was predicted to potentially approach Category 3 strength. Lowell reached Category 5 strength on Sept. 2. Karina peaked as a Category 4 with 130 mph winds on Sept. 1. Marie never became a major hurricane. It topped out at 100 mph, a Category 2, before weakening. Lowell passed about 90 miles west of Lihue, Kauai, late Monday as a Category 2 hurricane with 110 mph sustained winds. Kauai County was under a hurricane warning and Oahu under a tropical storm warning. By 5 a.m. Tuesday the storm had weakened to 90 mph and was forecast to become a tropical storm later the same day, with flash flooding continuing across the islands. Karina and Marie stayed over open water and neither made landfall. Forecasters declared Karina post-tropical on Sunday and issued their final advisory on Marie on Tuesday morning. The last time there were three hurricanes simultaneously in the Eastern or Central Pacific was in 2015, with Hurricanes Kilo, Ignacio and Jimena spinning in the Pacific during another El Niño year. widespread tree loss.