Was there ever a time when two hurricanes collided?

Question

Was there ever a time when two hurricanes collided?

Answer 1

Yes September 4 2008. Hanna And Ike where their names

Answer 2

No, not in our history

Answer 3

First of all, a hurricane is a tropical storm that has reached a force that we call hurricane force; it is not a meteorological phenomenon by itself.

When a storm, tropical or frontal, builds up, it is because there is a strong convection of mild and humid air that rises into colder air above. That is always surrounded by higher pressure because the average pressure on earth can't change unless we miss a lot of our atmosphere. Think about waves; high wave crests are always surrounded by deep troughs.

But sometimes, especially on a 'natural' low formation line like the front between temperate and polar air masses, a secondary low pressure might move faster and merge with the primary one. That happened, for example, in August 1979 when such a storm sank some of the sailboats participating to the Fasnet Race off the British coast.

There is nothing that could prevent the same thing to happen two hurricanes that are born in the tropical Atlantic. But such an event is most unlikely because hurricanes are happening at a much slower rate than frontal lows.