Powerful Tropical Cyclone Chido hit the coast of northern Mozambique on Saturday night.  At 11:00 p.m. EST on Saturday the center of Tropical Cyclone Chido was located at latitude 13.5°S and longitude 40.6°E which put the center about 75 miles (120 km) north of Nacala, Mozambique.  Chido was moving toward the west at 16 m.p.h. (26 km/h).  The maximum sustained wind speed was 130 m.p.h. (210 km/h) and there were wind gusts to 160 m.p.h. (260 km/h).  The minimum surface pressure was 950 mb.

Powerful Tropical Cyclone Chido hit the coast of northern Mozambique less than 24 hours after Chido caused major damage in Mayotte.  The center of Tropical Cyclone Chido made landfall on the coast north of Nacala.  Chido was the equivalent of a Category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Scale at the time of landfall.  A small circular eye with a diameter of 12 miles (19 km) was at the center of Chido’s circulation.  The eye was surrounded by a ring of thunderstorms and the strongest winds were occurring in that ring of storms.  Bands of showers and thunderstorms were revolving around the core of Tropical Cyclone Chido.

The circulation around Tropical Cyclone Chido was small.  Winds to hurricane/typhoon force extended out 25 miles (40 km) from the center of Chido’s circulation.  Winds to tropical storm force extended out 80 miles (130 km) from the center of Tropical Cyclone Chido.

The Hurricane Intensity Index (HII) for Tropical Cyclone Chido is 25.1.  The Hurricane Size Index (HSI) is 8.0 and the Hurricane Wind Intensity Size Index (HWISI) is 33.1.  Tropical Cyclone Chido is similar in intensity to Hurricane Harvey when Harvey made landfall in Texas in 2017.  Chido is not as large as Harvey was.

Tropical Cyclone Chido will bring strong winds and heavy rain to northern Mozambique.  Heavy rain is likely to cause floods in some locations.  Chido could also cause a storm surge of up to 10 feet (3 meters) along the coast of northern Mozambique.

Tropical Cyclone Chido will move around the northern side of a high pressure system over the Southwest Indian Ocean.  The high pressure system will steer Chido toward the west-southwest during the next 24 hours.  On its anticipated track, Tropical Cyclone Chido will move inland over northern Mozambique.

Tropical Cyclone Chido will weaken steadily as it moves inland over northern Mozambique.  However, Chido will still bring strong winds and locally heavy rain to northern Mozambique.  Tropical Cyclone Chido could also drop heavy rain on parts of southern Malawi.