ANTANANARIVO (AFP) - Tropical cyclone Gafilo is nearing Madagascar and expected to sweep across the northwestern coast of the Indian Ocean island nation on Sunday, the local meteorological office warned.
"We've issued an alert for the whole of northwestern Madagascar, from Tamatave to Diego, because a cyclone has developed and is heading straight for the town of Sambava," a weather expert told AFP.
Last month, 29 people were killed, 100 injured and 44,000 left homeless by cyclone Elita, according to figures released by the national rescue council. The government of the large country off Africa's southeast coast has asked for aid.
"At noon local time (0900 GMT), the cyclone was 700 kilometres (434 miles) northeast of Sambava. Average wind speed was 130 kilometres per hour, with gusts of 180 kph," the meteorologist said.
Madagascar is usually exposed to cyclones between December and March, but the season can be longer. In May 2003, cyclone Manou devastated part of the country, killing 70 people on the east coast.
Gafilo closes in on Madagascar
Moderator: S2k Moderators
Forum rules
The posts in this forum are NOT official forecasts and should not be used as such. They are just the opinion of the poster and may or may not be backed by sound meteorological data. They are NOT endorsed by any professional institution or STORM2K. For official information, please refer to products from the National Hurricane Center and National Weather Service.
- Aslkahuna
- Professional-Met
- Posts: 4550
- Joined: Thu Feb 06, 2003 5:00 pm
- Location: Tucson, AZ
- Contact:
Elita
however, was no Gafilo. This storm is expected to peak at 140kt before weakening to 125kt when it makes landfall plus it's a fairly large storm so Madagascar is in for really serious trouble. The rains when that system hits the interior mountains are going to cause some real problems on those denuded slopes.
Steve
Steve
0 likes
- mf_dolphin
- Category 5
- Posts: 17758
- Age: 68
- Joined: Tue Oct 08, 2002 2:05 pm
- Location: St Petersburg, FL
- Contact:
TC Gafilo potential to be Madagascar's worst Cyclone
The satellite image says it all. TC Gafilo has become an extremely powerful cyclone. 155MPH at last report however I would venture to say its around 170MPH.
http://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/tropic/real- ... r-nh16.GIF
http://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/tropic/real- ... r-nh16.GIF
0 likes
The following post is NOT an official forecast and should not be used as such. It is just the opinion of the poster and may or may not be backed by sound meteorological data. It is NOT endorsed by any professional institution including storm2k.org For Official Information please refer to the NHC and NWS products.
- southerngale
- Retired Staff
- Posts: 27418
- Joined: Thu Oct 10, 2002 1:27 am
- Location: Southeast Texas (Beaumont area)
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: CFLHurricane, Coolcruiseman, Cpv17, duilaslol, gatorcane, IcyTundra, ouragans, SFLcane, TheBurn, WaveBreaking, Weathertracker96 and 152 guests