NASA Tracks Freddy, Longest-lived Tropical Cyclone on Record
Descrição
Tropical Cyclone Freddy first made landfall along the east coast of Madagascar just north of the town of Mananjary on Feb. 21, 2023, as a Category 3 cyclone with average winds reported at ~81 mph (130 km/h) and gusts up to ~112 mph (180 km/h). After crossing over Madagascar Freddy continued westward over the Mozambique Channel before making landfall again along the east coast of Mozambique just south of Vilankulos as a moderate tropical storm with sustained winds estimated at 50 mph. Despite being weaker at landfall, Freddy caused widespread flooding across parts of Mozambique due to the storm stalling out near the coast after making landfall.
Incredibly, Freddy drifted back out over the Mozambique Channel, nearly making landfall along the southwest coast of Madagascar. It then changed direction, re-intensified, weakened, re-intensified one last time, and made landfall once again on March 11 near Quelimane, Mozambique, as a Category 1 cyclone with sustained winds reported at 90 mph.
Meteorologically, Freddy has been a remarkable storm, becoming the longest-lived tropical cyclone in recorded history, lasting over five weeks. Freddy originated from a weak area of low pressure that was embedded in a monsoon trough of low pressure stretching east-west across the Timor Sea between northern Australia and southern Indonesia. On Feb 6, 15 days before it would make its first landfall in Madagascar, both the Australian Bureau of Meteorology and the US Joint Typhoon Warning Center reported the formation of Tropical Cyclone Freddy about 420 miles northwest of the northwest coast of Australia. In a rare but not unprecedented event, Freddy tracked across the entire Indian Ocean from east to west in almost a straight line with very little deviation in latitude. Along the way, Freddy underwent four separate rapid intensification cycles, the first southern hemisphere storm in history to do so. After hitting Mozambique the first time and re-emerging back over the Mozambique Channel, Freddy underwent at two additional rapid intensification cycles resulting from the competing effects of warm water, wind shear and dry air. Freddy was also the first storm to the reach the equivalent of Category 5 intensity on the Saffir-Simpson scale for 2023. In addition to being the longest-lived tropical cyclone in recorded history, Freddy set the record for having the highest accumulated cyclone energy (ACE) of any storm in history. ACE is an index used to measure the total amount of wind energy associated with a tropical cyclone over its lifetime.
NASA’s IMERG satellite precipitation product is ideal for monitoring and studying tropical cyclones around the world, especially over the open ocean where ground-based observations are sparse. IMERG uses precipitation estimates from a constellation of satellites united by the GPM Core Observatory to generate maps of global precipitation updated every 30 minutes in near real-time. The above animation shows IMERG surface rainfall estimates associated with the passage of Tropical Cyclone Freddy across the Indian Ocean as well as Freddy’s corresponding track and intensity. The animation begins at on Feb. 6, 2023, just before Freddy is about to form northwest of Australia. Over the course of the storm’s history, IMERG reveals a variety of precipitation features and trends that relate closely to the variations in Freddy’s intensity.
Incredibly, Freddy drifted back out over the Mozambique Channel, nearly making landfall along the southwest coast of Madagascar. It then changed direction, re-intensified, weakened, re-intensified one last time, and made landfall once again on March 11 near Quelimane, Mozambique, as a Category 1 cyclone with sustained winds reported at 90 mph.
Meteorologically, Freddy has been a remarkable storm, becoming the longest-lived tropical cyclone in recorded history, lasting over five weeks. Freddy originated from a weak area of low pressure that was embedded in a monsoon trough of low pressure stretching east-west across the Timor Sea between northern Australia and southern Indonesia. On Feb 6, 15 days before it would make its first landfall in Madagascar, both the Australian Bureau of Meteorology and the US Joint Typhoon Warning Center reported the formation of Tropical Cyclone Freddy about 420 miles northwest of the northwest coast of Australia. In a rare but not unprecedented event, Freddy tracked across the entire Indian Ocean from east to west in almost a straight line with very little deviation in latitude. Along the way, Freddy underwent four separate rapid intensification cycles, the first southern hemisphere storm in history to do so. After hitting Mozambique the first time and re-emerging back over the Mozambique Channel, Freddy underwent at two additional rapid intensification cycles resulting from the competing effects of warm water, wind shear and dry air. Freddy was also the first storm to the reach the equivalent of Category 5 intensity on the Saffir-Simpson scale for 2023. In addition to being the longest-lived tropical cyclone in recorded history, Freddy set the record for having the highest accumulated cyclone energy (ACE) of any storm in history. ACE is an index used to measure the total amount of wind energy associated with a tropical cyclone over its lifetime.
NASA’s IMERG satellite precipitation product is ideal for monitoring and studying tropical cyclones around the world, especially over the open ocean where ground-based observations are sparse. IMERG uses precipitation estimates from a constellation of satellites united by the GPM Core Observatory to generate maps of global precipitation updated every 30 minutes in near real-time. The above animation shows IMERG surface rainfall estimates associated with the passage of Tropical Cyclone Freddy across the Indian Ocean as well as Freddy’s corresponding track and intensity. The animation begins at on Feb. 6, 2023, just before Freddy is about to form northwest of Australia. Over the course of the storm’s history, IMERG reveals a variety of precipitation features and trends that relate closely to the variations in Freddy’s intensity.
Palavra-chave: meteorologia quelimane
