HUDAH
1999-00 season · AU199900_13U
History
Tropical Cyclone Hudah began as a tropical disturbance embedded in the monsoon trough over the central Indian Ocean, with the Joint Typhoon Warning Center first noting the area of disturbed weather late on 22 March 2000, roughly 685 km southeast of Christmas Island. Conditions were favourable and the system organised rapidly into a curved band pattern, prompting a formation alert on 24 March. Perth TCWC classified it as a tropical low that same day, and although it reached cyclone strength within the Australian region, it was never named there. Steered westward by a strong subtropical ridge to its south, the system crossed 90°E on 25 March and was named Hudah by Météo-France's La Réunion centre.
Intensification came in fits and starts, with an eye forming, eroding and reforming as dry air and fluctuating wind shear interfered. Hudah reached tropical cyclone status on 27 March some 1,200 km southeast of Diego Garcia, peaked initially at 155 km/h on 29 March, weakened briefly, then resumed strengthening. After passing about 275 km north of Rodrigues Island, it developed a large, clear eye and was upgraded to an intense tropical cyclone on 31 March. On 1 April it became a very intense tropical cyclone, reaching peak 10-minute winds of 225 km/h and a central pressure of 905 hPa — the most intense system worldwide that year, and close to the theoretical maximum for its environment.
Hudah held that strength until making landfall about 28 km southeast of Antalaha, Madagascar, late on 2 April. It weakened to a depression over the island's mountainous north before entering the Mozambique Channel, where it reorganised and regained cyclone intensity, peaking a third time at 160 km/h before striking Mozambique near Pebane on 8 April. It dissipated the following day.
Antalaha suffered its worst cyclone in two decades, with 90% of homes destroyed, waves of at least 8 m, around 100,000 people left homeless and 111 deaths in Madagascar. Mozambique fared better than feared, with roof and tree damage near Pebane and three deaths.
Sources: Bureau of Meteorology report Wikipedia
View full track data (65 observations)
| Date/Time (UTC) | Category | Position | Pressure | Wind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000-03-24 00:00:00 | 1 | -15.6, 95.2 | 998 hPa | 18 km/h |
| 2000-03-24 06:00:00 | 1 | -15.4, 93.8 | 1000 hPa | 21 km/h |
| 2000-03-24 12:00:00 | 1 | -15.3, 92.7 | 999 hPa | 21 km/h |
| 2000-03-24 18:00:00 | 1 | -15.2, 91.5 | 997 hPa | 23 km/h |
| 2000-03-25 00:00:00 | 1 | -15.1, 90.4 | 994 hPa | 26 km/h |
| 2000-03-25 06:00:00 | 1 | -15.3, 89.3 | 990 hPa | — |
| 2000-03-25 12:00:00 | 1 | -15.3, 88.4 | 980 hPa | — |
| 2000-03-25 18:00:00 | 1 | -15.2, 87.5 | 978 hPa | — |
| 2000-03-26 00:00:00 | 1 | -15.1, 86.5 | 978 hPa | — |
| 2000-03-26 06:00:00 | 1 | -14.9, 85.3 | 978 hPa | — |
| 2000-03-26 12:00:00 | 1 | -14.7, 84.4 | 976 hPa | — |
| 2000-03-26 18:00:00 | 1 | -14.7, 83.7 | 974 hPa | — |
| 2000-03-27 00:00:00 | 1 | -14.6, 82.6 | 970 hPa | — |
| 2000-03-27 06:00:00 | 1 | -14.5, 81.6 | 965 hPa | — |
| 2000-03-27 12:00:00 | 1 | -14.6, 80.7 | 965 hPa | — |
| 2000-03-27 18:00:00 | 1 | -14.7, 79.5 | 965 hPa | — |
| 2000-03-28 00:00:00 | 1 | -14.9, 78.2 | 960 hPa | — |
| 2000-03-28 06:00:00 | 1 | -15.2, 77.1 | 960 hPa | — |
| 2000-03-28 12:00:00 | 1 | -15.4, 76.1 | 960 hPa | — |
| 2000-03-28 18:00:00 | 1 | -15.8, 75.1 | 960 hPa | — |
| 2000-03-29 00:00:00 | 1 | -16.1, 73.5 | 955 hPa | — |
| 2000-03-29 06:00:00 | 1 | -16.3, 72.6 | 950 hPa | — |
| 2000-03-29 12:00:00 | 1 | -16.6, 71.3 | 950 hPa | — |
| 2000-03-29 18:00:00 | 1 | -16.8, 70.1 | 950 hPa | — |
| 2000-03-30 00:00:00 | 1 | -16.9, 68.7 | 955 hPa | — |
| 2000-03-30 06:00:00 | 1 | -16.8, 67.7 | 960 hPa | — |
| 2000-03-30 12:00:00 | 1 | -17.0, 66.6 | 965 hPa | — |
| 2000-03-30 18:00:00 | 1 | -17.1, 65.4 | 965 hPa | — |
| 2000-03-31 00:00:00 | 1 | -17.1, 64.4 | 960 hPa | — |
| 2000-03-31 06:00:00 | 1 | -17.0, 63.0 | 945 hPa | — |
| 2000-03-31 12:00:00 | 1 | -17.0, 61.7 | 935 hPa | — |
| 2000-03-31 18:00:00 | 1 | -17.1, 60.6 | 928 hPa | — |
| 2000-04-01 00:00:00 | 1 | -17.0, 59.4 | 915 hPa | — |
| 2000-04-01 06:00:00 | 1 | -16.8, 58.1 | 910 hPa | — |
| 2000-04-01 12:00:00 | 1 | -16.6, 56.9 | 910 hPa | — |
| 2000-04-01 18:00:00 | 1 | -16.5, 55.6 | 910 hPa | — |
| 2000-04-02 00:00:00 | 1 | -16.1, 54.1 | 905 hPa | — |
| 2000-04-02 06:00:00 | 1 | -15.6, 52.9 | 905 hPa | — |
| 2000-04-02 12:00:00 | 1 | -15.4, 51.4 | 905 hPa | — |
| 2000-04-02 18:00:00 | 1 | -15.0, 50.5 | 910 hPa | — |
| 2000-04-03 00:00:00 | 1 | -14.8, 49.1 | — | — |
| 2000-04-03 06:00:00 | 1 | -14.9, 47.4 | — | — |
| 2000-04-03 12:00:00 | 1 | -14.7, 46.0 | 996 hPa | — |
| 2000-04-03 18:00:00 | 1 | -14.7, 45.2 | 997 hPa | — |
| 2000-04-04 00:00:00 | 1 | -14.9, 44.4 | 994 hPa | — |
| 2000-04-04 06:00:00 | 1 | -15.2, 43.5 | 990 hPa | — |
| 2000-04-04 12:00:00 | 1 | -15.6, 42.6 | 983 hPa | — |
| 2000-04-04 18:00:00 | 1 | -16.1, 41.8 | 978 hPa | — |
| 2000-04-05 00:00:00 | 1 | -16.3, 41.0 | 975 hPa | — |
| 2000-04-05 06:00:00 | 1 | -16.6, 40.2 | 975 hPa | — |
| 2000-04-05 12:00:00 | 1 | -16.9, 39.7 | 975 hPa | — |
| 2000-04-05 18:00:00 | 1 | -17.2, 39.4 | 970 hPa | — |
| 2000-04-06 00:00:00 | 1 | -17.7, 39.0 | 965 hPa | — |
| 2000-04-06 06:00:00 | 1 | -18.0, 38.8 | 965 hPa | — |
| 2000-04-06 12:00:00 | 1 | -18.5, 38.6 | 965 hPa | — |
| 2000-04-06 18:00:00 | 1 | -18.8, 38.6 | 960 hPa | — |
| 2000-04-07 00:00:00 | 1 | -18.8, 38.3 | 955 hPa | — |
| 2000-04-07 06:00:00 | 1 | -18.7, 38.3 | 947 hPa | — |
| 2000-04-07 12:00:00 | 1 | -18.6, 38.1 | 947 hPa | — |
| 2000-04-07 18:00:00 | 1 | -18.1, 38.6 | 947 hPa | — |
| 2000-04-08 00:00:00 | 1 | -17.8, 38.5 | 955 hPa | — |
| 2000-04-08 06:00:00 | 1 | -17.2, 38.3 | 970 hPa | — |
| 2000-04-08 12:00:00 | 1 | -16.7, 38.3 | — | — |
| 2000-04-08 18:00:00 | 1 | -16.1, 38.3 | — | — |
| 2000-04-09 00:00:00 | 1 | -15.6, 38.3 | — | — |