Intense Tropical Cyclone Bingiza made landfall on the northeastern coast of Madagascar earlier this morning, right about where it was forecast yesterday to make landfall. The extent of the damages are still unknown due to poor communication in the poverty-stricken nation, but the situation has the potential to be a disaster due to Bingiza moving slowly across the island as it weakens over the next few days. The longer the cyclone stays over or near land, the longer the duration of extremely heavy rains. As folks who lived through Tropical Storm Allison will tell you, the winds don't matter if the tropical system dumps a ton of rain over a region. According to Dr. Jeff Masters , parts of Madagascar are forecast to receive 8 inches of rain from Bingiza and its remnants, adding to the probable damage caused by the storm's wind and storm surge.
Here's the 11AM IST forecast from Wunderground :
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Here's a satellite image from the US Navy , showing a rapidly weakening Bingiza as it gets torn apart by Madagascar's rough terrain:
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For more information on this and other tropical weather information around the globe, here are a few links to help in your search:
- Meteo France - La Réunion (The agency responsible for tropical weather forecasts for the SW Indian Ocean, including Madagascar)
- Satellite imagery from the US Navy
- Tropical Weather Link Library (This is probably the work I'm most proud of on DKos...compiling almost one hundred links to various weather agencies and a wealth of information regarding tropical weather across the globe)