Tag Archives: Antananarivo

Tropical Cyclone Gezani Hits Madagascar

Tropical Cyclone Gezani hit Madagascar near Toamasina with strong winds and heavy rain on Tuesday afternoon.  At 10:00 p.m. EST on Tuesday the center of Tropical Cyclone Gezani was located at latitude 18.4°S and longitude 47.6°E which put the center about 75 miles (120 km) northeast of Antananarivo, Madagascar.  Gezani was moving toward the west at 11 m.p.h. (17 km/h).  The maximum sustained wind speed was 80 m.p.h. (130 km/h) and there were wind gusts to 100 m.p.h. (160 km/h).  The minimum surface pressure was 985 mb.

Tropical Cyclone Gezani hit Madagascar near Toamasina on Tuesday afternoon.  A weather station at the airport in Toamasina (FMMT) reported a reported a sustained wind speed of 54 m.p.h. (87 km/h) and a wind gust of 84 m.p.h. (135 km/h) at 10:00 a.m. EST on Tuesday.  That observation was made while Gezani was approaching Toamasina.  There have not been any additional reports from that weather station since that time.

Tropical Cyclone Gezani was the equivalent of a major hurricane when it hit Madagascar.  The maximum sustained wind speed was 125 m.p.h. (200 km) at the time of landfall.  Winds to hurricane/typhoon force extended out 30 miles (50 km) from the center of Gezani’s circulation.  Winds to tropical storm force extended out 80 miles (130 km) from the center of Tropical Cyclone Gezani.

The Hurricane Intensity Index (HII) for Tropical Cyclone Gezani at the time of landfall was 23.6.  The Hurricane Size Index (HSI) was 11.0 and the Hurricane Wind Intensity Size Index (HWISI) was 34.6. Tropical Cyclone Gezani was similar in size and intensity to Hurricane Dennis when Dennis hit Northwest Florida in 2005.

Tropical Cyclone Gezani will move around the northern side of a high pressure system that is over the South Indian Ocean.   The high pressure system will steer Gezani toward the west-southwest during the next 24 hours.  On its anticipated track, Tropical Cyclone Gezani will continue to move across central Madagascar on Wednesday.  Gezani will reach the Mozambique Channel on Wednesday night.

Tropical Cyclone Gezani will continue to bring strong winds and locally heavy rain to central Madagascar.  Heavy rain will cause flash floods in some locations.  Tropical Cyclone Gezani will be capable of causing serious damage to central Madagascar.  Widespread outages of electricity are likely.

Tropical Cyclone Gezani will continue to weaken as it moves across central Madagascar.  Gezani is likely to be the equivalent of a tropical storm when it reaches the Mozambique Channel.  Tropical Cyclone Gezani will move into an environment favorable for intensification after it moves over the Mozambique Channel.

Tropical Cyclone Fytia Brings Wind and Rain to Madagascar

Tropical Cyclone Fytia was bringing wind and rain to Madagascar on Saturday.  At 10:00 a.m. EST on Saturday the center of Tropical Cyclone Fytia was located at latitude 17.5°S and longitude 47.0°E which put the center about 140 miles (225 km) north-northwest of Antananarivo, Madagascar.  Fytia was moving toward the southeast at 12 m.p.h. (19 km/h).  The maximum sustained wind speed was 70 m.p.h. (110 km/h) and there were wind gusts to 85 m.p.h. (135 km/h).  The minimum surface pressure was 989 mb.

The center of Tropical Cyclone Fytia made landfall on the west coast of Madagascar west of Soalala on Friday night.  Fytia was the equivalent of a major hurricane at the time of landfall.  It then started to weaken as it moved southeast across central Madagascar.

Tropical Cyclone Fytia was the equivalent of a tropical storm on Saturday morning.  Winds to tropical storm force extended out 115 miles (185 km) from the center of Fytia’s circulation.

An upper level trough over the Mozambique Channel will steer Tropical Cyclone Fytia toward the southeast during the next 24 hours.  The center of Fytia’s circulation will pass between Antananarivo and Toamasina.  Tropical Cyclone Fytia will move over the Southwest Indian Ocean on Sunday.

Tropical Cyclone Fytia will bring strong winds and locally heavy rain to central Madagascar.   Heavy rain is very likely to cause flash floods in some locations. Widespread electricity outages are also likely.

Tropical Cyclone Fytia Rapidly Intensifies to Equivalent of a Major Hurricane

Tropical Cyclone Fytia rapidly intensified to the equivalent of a major hurricane before it hit the west coast of Madagascar on Friday night.  At 10:00 p.m. EST on Friday the center of Tropical Cyclone Fytia was located at latitude 16.3°S and longitude 45.2°E which put the center about 25 miles (40 km) west of Soalala, Madagascar.  Fytia was moving toward the east-southeast at 12 m.p.h. (19 km/h).  The maximum sustained wind speed was 115 m.p.h. (185 km/h) and there were wind gusts to 145 m.p.h. (235 km/h).  The minimum surface pressure was 962 mb.

Tropical Cyclone Fytia continued to intensify rapidly on Friday right up to the time it hit the west coast of Madagascar.  A small circular eye was at the center of Tropical Cyclone Fytia.  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 Fytia’s circulation.  Storms near the core of Fytia generated strong upper level divergence that pumped large quantities of mass away from the tropical cyclone.  The removal of large amounts of mass caused the surface pressure to decrease rapidly.

The circulation around Tropical Cyclone Fytia was small.  Winds to tropical storm force extended out 25 miles (40 km) from the center of Fytia’s circulation.  Winds to tropical storm force extended out 90 miles (145 km) from the center of Tropical Cyclone Fytia.

The Hurricane Intensity Index (HII) for Tropical Cyclone Fytia was 20.6. The Hurricane Size Index (HWISI) was 9.4 and the Hurricane Wind Intensity Size Index (HWISI) was 30.0 Tropical Cyclone Fytia was similar in size and intensity to Hurricane Zeta when Zeta hit Louisiana in 2020.

Tropical Cyclone Fytia will move around the southwestern part of a high pressure system that is over the South Indian Ocean.  The high pressure system will steer Fytia toward the southeast during the next 24 hours.  On its anticipated track, Tropical Cyclone Fytia will across central Madagascar on Saturday.

The center of Tropical Cyclone Fytia made landfall on the west coast of Madagascar west of Soalala.  The center of Fytia’s circulation is likely to pass between Antananarivo and Toamasina on Saturday night.  Tropical Cyclone Fytia will weaken as it moves across Madagascar.

Tropical Cyclone Fytia will bring strong winds and locally heavy rain to the coast of west central Madagascar and to central Madagascar.  Fytia could cause major damage in those areas.   Heavy rain is very likely to cause flash floods in some locations. Tropical Cyclone Fytia could also cause a storm surge of up to 10 feet (3 meters) along parts of the west coast of Madagascar.

Tropical Cyclone Faida Brings Wind and Rain to Madagascar

Tropical Cyclone Faida brought wind and rain to Madagascar on Monday night.  At 10:00 p.m. EST on Monday the center of Tropical Cyclone Faida was located at latitude 18.5°S and longitude 49.7°E which put the center about 35 miles (55 km) southeast of the Toamasina, Madagascar.  Faida was moving toward the west at 10 m.p.h. (16 km/h).  The maximum sustained wind speed was 45 m.p.h. (75 km/h) and there were wind gusts to 60 m.p.h. (95 km/h).  The minimum surface pressure was 998 mb.

Even though the center of Tropical Cyclone Faida was just off the east coast of Madagascar on Monday night, bands in the western side of of Faida’s circulation were already over land.  Those bands brought strong winds and locally heavy rain to parts of northern and central Madagascar.

The strongest winds and heaviest rain were in the western half of Tropical Cyclone Faida.  Winds to tropical storm force extended out 70 miles (110 km) in the western side of Faida’s circulation.  The winds in the eastern half of Tropical Cyclone Faida were blowing at less than tropical storm force.

Tropical Cyclone Faida will move around the northern part of a high pressure system over the Southwest Indian Ocean and southern Africa.  The high pressure system will steer Faida toward the west during the next 24 hours.  On its anticipated track, Tropical Cyclone Faida will move across Madagascar during the next 36 hours.  The center of Faida’s circulation will pass near Toamasina and Antananarivo.

Tropical Cyclone Faida will continue to drop heavy rain over parts of northern and central Madagascar.  Heavy rain is likely to cause floods in some locations.

Elsewhere, Tropical Cyclone Vince intensified southwest of the Cocos Islands and Tropical Cyclone Taliah continued to spin northwest of Australia.

At 4:00 p.m. EST on Monday the center of Tropical Cyclone Vince was located at latitude 17.3°S and longitude 91.5°E which put the center about 465 miles (750 km) southwest of the Cocos Islands.  Vince was moving toward the west-southwest at 17 m.p.h. (28 km/h).  The maximum sustained wind speed was 80 m.p.h. (130 km/h) and there were wind gusts to 100 m.p.h. (160 km/h).  The minimum surface pressure was 978 mb.

At 4:00 p.m. EST on Monday the center of Tropical Cyclone Taliah was located at latitude 15.5°S and longitude 112.4°E which put the center about 485 miles (780 km) north of Exmouth, Australia.  Taliah was moving toward the west at 12 m.p.h. (19 km/h).  The maximum sustained wind speed was 85 m.p.h. (135 km/h) and there were wind gusts to 105 m.p.h. (165 km/h).  The minimum surface pressure was 972 mb.

Tropical Cyclone Eliakim Makes Landfall on Madagascar

Tropical Cyclone Eliakim made landfall on the east coast of Madagascar on Thursday night.  At 11:00 p.m. EDT on Thursday the center of Tropical Cyclone Eliakim was located at latitude 16.1°S and longitude 50.6°E which put it about 60 miles (95 km) south of Ambohitralanana, Madagascar.  Eliakim was moving toward the west-southwest at 11 m.p.h. (17 km/h).  The maximum sustained wind speed was 65 m.p.h. (105km/h) and there were wind gusts to 80 m.p.h. (130 km/h).  The minimum surface pressure was 984 mb.

Tropical Cyclone Eliakim continued to strengthen as it approached Madagascar.  A nearly complete eyewall wrapped around a large circular eye.  The eyewall was weakest south of the center of circulation.  Several bands of showers an thunderstorms were revolving around the core of Tropical Cyclone Eliakim.  Storms near the core were generating upper level divergence which was pumping mass away in all directions.

Tropical Cyclone Eliakim will gradually weaken after the center of circulation moves over eastern Madagascar.  Eliakim will bring gusty winds, but locally heavy rain will be the major threat.  Tropical Cyclone Eliakim is rounding the western end of a subtropical ridge and it will start moving toward the south within 12 to 24 hours.  On its anticipated track the center of Elaikim will move over eastern Madagascar and it will stay east of Antananarivo.  The heavy rain is likely to cause flash floods in the steep terrain in eastern Madagascar.