Tropical Cyclone Kenneth made landfall in storm-battered
Mozambique late Thursday night with the equivalent strength of a category four hurricane.
The remnants of the storm are expected to slow to a crawl over the next couple of days, bringing
significant wind damage and a deep storm surge to coastal communities in the
path of the eyewall, as well as potentially devastating flooding from heavy
rain across northern Mozambique and southern Tanzania. Kenneth will make landfall
a few hundred miles north of the region devastated by Cyclone Idai in March.
The center of the cyclone made landfall in a concave bay
north of Pemba. The town of Pangane and a small coastal community east of Mucojo
appear to have experienced the full force of Cyclone Kenneth’s eyewall. Satellite imagery
shows hundreds of homes—many likely poorly constructed—right along the coast or
on flat terrain within a mile of the water. The wind and surge will likely
result in the destruction of these communities.
 |
| Source: Tropical Tidbits |
The latest forecast from the Joint Typhoon Warning Center
(JTWC) shows Kenneth slowly making its way inland and meandering over northern
Mozambique for the next couple of days. This will lead to catastrophic flooding
from more than a foot of rain in many areas.
Analyses right before landfall late Thursday night showed
that Cyclone Kenneth was the equivalent of a category four on the
Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, packing maximum sustained winds of about
140 MPH just before the eye crossed land. This makes Kenneth one of the
strongest storms ever recorded on landfall in Mozambique.
This cyclone is an especially devastating blow as the country
is still reeling from the effects of Cyclone Idai, which made landfall in
central Mozambique on March 15. Idai reportedly destroyed 90 percent of the port town of Beira with a storm surge deep enough to fully submerge most one-story
buildings. The storm killed more than 1,000 people in Mozambique and surrounding
countries, leaving hundreds of thousands of residents in a humanitarian crisis
that will continue for years—now made even worse by the added effects of
Cyclone Kenneth.
This is now the most
active cyclone season on record for the southwestern Indian Ocean. Unfortunately,
as we’ve seen so many times in the United States, a hyperactive tropical
cyclone season greatly increases the odds that a powerful storm will make a
direct landfall.
It’s unusual for Mozambique to see one cyclone in a year,
let alone two major storms in a month’s time. Mozambique is typically protected
from major cyclones by the island nation of Madagascar, which sits a few
hundred miles off the coast. Cyclones often weaken as they cross Madagascar—however,
Idai was able to rapidly strengthen in the Mozambique Channel, and Kenneth skirted
Madagascar to the north.
Tropical cyclones are called different names around the world. Mature tropical cyclones are known as hurricanes around North America, typhoons in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, and simply "cyclones" everywhere else in the world. While the name changes depending on the ocean basin, the basic structure and effects are the same no matter where they form.
[Top Image: UW/SSEC]
You can follow me on Twitter or send me an email.
Please consider subscribing to my Patreon. Reader-funded news is more important than ever and your support helps fund engaging, hype-free weather coverage.
Please consider subscribing to my Patreon. Reader-funded news is more important than ever and your support helps fund engaging, hype-free weather coverage.
0 comments: