In a bit of an oddity, 3 tropical storms are swirling southwest of San Diego

Hurricane Debby is getting a huge amount of attention as she bears down on Florida. But there’s a meteorological oddity southwest of San Diego that also deserves a look, if only for curiosity’s sake.

Three named tropical storms — Carlotta, Daniel and Emilia — swirled to life below Baja California and are now chugging off to the west. And a fourth system is forming and could become a tropical depression by late Monday or early Tuesday, says the National Hurricane Center.

Tropical storms are fairly common in the eastern Pacific in August. But it’s unusual for three well-defined systems to appear at once, with more in the offing.

“All three are going west, so they won’t be bringing (San Diego) any rain,” said Casey Oswant, a forecaster at the National Weather Service in Rancho Bernardo.

Many people in San Diego County will regard that as unwelcome news. Last August, Tropical Storm Hilary traveled close to San Diego and dropped heavy rain across Southern California, helping to tamp down fall fire season. But the rain from Hilary also produced tons of vegetation that has since dried out, raising the risk of wildfires.

Firefighters will have to be especially vigilant starting around Wednesday when the monsoon regains strength. It could throw off a lot of lightning — a major source of summer wildfires in San Diego County’s backcountry.