Cyclone Freddy is now the longest-lived tropical cyclone on record. It has been active for 33 days over the south Indian Ocean, having made two landfalls and is likely getting ready to make another.
Key points
- The current record is held by Hurricane/Typhoon John, which lasted 31 days in 1994.
- Freddy also holds the record for the maximum times a tropical cyclone has undergone rapid intensification at six.
- The second record hints at the role of global warming, specifically the heat in the oceans, in its record breaking streak.
- Freddy developed off the North Australian coast and became a named storm on February 6. It crossed the entire South Indian Ocean and made landfall in Madagascar on February 21 and then in Mozambique on February 24.
Conditions needed for tropical cyclone
Several conditions are needed for a tropical cyclone to form:
- High sea temperatures of at least 27°C.
- Converging winds near the ocean surface forcing air to rise and form storm clouds.
- Winds that do not vary greatly with height – known as low wind shear. This allows the storm clouds to rise vertically to high levels;
- Sufficient distance from the equator for a spin such as the Coriolis force to take effect.
