Washington (United States) (AFP) – Three massive hurricanes are rolling through the Pacific Ocean on Thursday, a rare simultaneous phenomenon that scientists attribute to warming waters caused by an El Niño episode of historic intensity.

Published on: 09/03/2026 - 2:53 p.m.

Tropical Storm Marie strengthened to the point of becoming a hurricane late Wednesday 600 kilometers off the coast of Baja California, west of Mexico, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.

Marie should further gain in intensity until Friday, according to the same source.

This new hurricane joins Lowell and Karina (category 4) which are both progressing westward across the Pacific.

Seeing three hurricanes is “definitely rare,” Julia Cole, a climatologist at the University of Michigan, told AFP.

“The warming due to El Niño creates a situation conducive to these storms (...) When the tropical Pacific is warmer than normal, we see an increase in the number of violent storms,” she explained.

Lowell was located slightly more than 700 kilometers south of Hilo, Hawaii, as of Wednesday evening and "is expected to remain a major hurricane for several days," according to the NHC.

The latter warned of the risk of dangerous conditions on certain coasts of the archipelago that the swells generated by Lowell are likely to cause.

The NHC stressed that its forecasts of the hurricane's long-term track and intensity were "more uncertain than usual."

Hawaii is still recovering from the effects of Hurricane Lala, which grazed the southern part of the Big Island last month, bringing destructive winds and violent flash floods.

According to the NHC, Karina has slightly decreased in intensity as it moves northwest, but is expected to remain a hurricane over the coming days.

Record water temperature

Warm waters provide fuel for storms, and El Niño's impact on the atmosphere favors the intensification of hurricanes.

A comparable succession of four cyclones occurred in 2015, another year marked by an intense El Niño.

“The climate system has really warmed over the last twenty years,” says Benjamin Kirtman of the University of Miami, emphasizing that the temperature of surface waters is already at near-record levels.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), this year's El Niño has a 69 percent chance of becoming the most intense on record.

It is already causing extreme weather events across the world, although it is only expected to peak around November.

A climatic phenomenon that occurs every two to seven years, it occurs when the easterly winds that normally hold warm waters in the western Pacific temporarily weaken, allowing them to rise to the surface and move eastward.

When surface temperatures remain above normal for several months, it causes more storms over the region, which impacts the entire Earth's atmosphere.

As a result, the climate becomes hotter and drier in some places, and cooler and wetter in others.

Scientists agree that climate change is amplifying the effects of El Niño.

There is no consensus on whether climate change itself strengthens El Niño, although evidence is beginning to emerge.

© 2026 AFP

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