GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Tropical Storm Imelda and Hurricane Humberto have both strengthened, now lurking a few hundred miles away from one another.

As of Monday afternoon, the two tropical systems are around 600 to 700 miles apart. The small amount of ocean in between the outer bands is even less — around 100 miles.

It is quite rare that two storms are in such close proximity. When two systems that are rotating in the same direction pass closely to each other, they often find a shared common point to rotate around. Often, the stronger storm will try to absorb the weaker one. This is known as the Fujiwhara effect.

Despite how close Humberto and Imelda currently are, the Fujiwhara effect looks unlikely. Current forecasts suggest the two storms will remain separate systems as they tra

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