Tropical Cyclone Freddy: Longest-lived on Record: 5+ Weeks! | NASA

Tropical Cyclone Freddy: Longest-lived on Record: 5+ Weeks | NASA

Tropical Cyclone Freddy lasted more than five weeks. Once a very powerful Category 5 cyclone, Freddy first made landfall along the east coast of Madagascar on February 21st, 2023, just north of the town of Mananjary as a Category 3 cyclone with average winds reported at 130 km/h (~81 mph) with gusts up to 180 km/h (~112 mph). After crossing over Madagascar, Freddy continued westward over the Mozambique Channel before making landfall again and for the first time along the east coast of Mozambique just south of Vilankulos as a moderate tropical storm with sustained winds estimated at 50 mph. 

However, despite being weaker at landfall, Freddy has resulted in widespread flooding across parts of Mozambique due to the storm stalling out near the coast after making landfall. Incredibly, Freddy then drifted back out over the Mozambique Channel, nearly making landfall again along the southwest coast of Madagascar, before changing direction, re-intensifying, weakening, re-intensifying one last time, and making landfall for the 2nd time in Mozambique as a Category 1 cyclone near Quelimane with sustained winds reported at 90 mph on the 11th of March.

The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions at ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by the Southern Ocean or Antarctica. [Wikipedia]

Video Credit: NASA Goddard

Ryan Fitzgibbons (KBRwyle):

Lead Producer

Lead Editor

Aaron E. Lepsch (ADNET):

Technical Support

George Huffman (NASA/GSFC):

Lead Scientist

Lead Narrator

B. Jason West (ADNET):

Lead Visualizer

Stephen Lang (SSAI):

Lead Writer

Duration: 1 minute, 22 seconds

Release Date: March 17, 2023

#NASA #Space #Science #Earth #Planet #Atmosphere #Oceans #Climate #ClimateChange #GlobalHeating #IndianOcean #Weather #Meteorology #TropicalCyclones #TropicalCycloneFreddy #Storm #GPMMission #Madagascar #Africa #Mozambique #UnitedStates #JAXA #Japan #STEM #Education #HD #Video