On Sunday, Freddy was centered near the mouth of the Zambezi River in Mozambique and had sustained winds of about 55 mph. The storm crossed the coast on Saturday as the equivalent of a Category 2 hurricane before gradually losing strength over land.
The typhoon was blamed for 27 deaths in Madagascar and Mozambique when it hit the two countries last month. Amid its second landfall in Mozambique this weekend, at least one person has died, Reuters reports, but the full extent of the storm’s toll is not yet known because “the communication and power supply in the typhoon area has been cut.”
Freddy’s record-setting longevity and power-up battles
Freddy reached Category 5 strength twice in the open southern Indian Ocean in mid-February, and was named for 34 days. That surpassed the previous world record-holder, Hurricane John, which spent 31 days as a named hurricane in the Pacific between August 11 and September 13, 1994.
In addition, Freddy quickly became stronger than ever before SEVEN times, compared to the previous record, which is four times. Rapid intensification describes a jump of 35 mph or greater in the storm’s winds in 24 hours or less. While most major storms and hurricanes intensify at least once, anything more than three times in a hurricane’s life cycle is unusual.
The strongest tropical storm in the world
After breaking records that last a long time and are constantly getting stronger, Freddy manages to become the biggest in the world. vigorous typhoon observed after reaching the significant threshold this week.
BREAKING: At 06Z today (2 PM Manila time), Typhoon #Freddy became the first tropical cyclone to reach 86 ACE (86.07).
Yesterday at 12Z, it also became the first storm to last 35 DAYS (35.5 days at 06Z today).
ACE – Accumulated Cyclone Energy pic.twitter.com/XKIJpp4sMV
— Matthew Cuyugan (@MatthewCuyugan) March 12, 2023
How much energy a hurricane can carry is calculated by a metric known as ACE, or Accumulated Cyclone Energy. This indicates the intensity and duration of the storm. Hurricanes harvest such energy from warm ocean waters and use it through their winds and by producing rain.
As of Saturday night, Freddy tallied somewhere in the neighborhood of 86 ACE units, surpassing the record of 85.26 set by Hurricane Ioke in August through September 2006. That’s more ACE than 100 in past 172 Atlantic hurricane seasons – not individual hurricanes, but wholes times‘ ACE value.
While Freddy holds records for rapid intensification, longevity and energy dispersal, it does not spend a lifetime at hurricane force. It weakened to a tropical storm after making landfall in Madagascar on February 21 and a depression after it first made landfall in Mozambique days later.
It could be Freddy in the end disappear late Monday or early Tuesday as it unloads heavy rain in northern and central Mozambique. Some areas will see as much as 25 inches.
While the mid-level circulation left behind by Freddy’s remnants may drift back southeast through the Mozambique Channel into Wednesday, the severed tropical parts will have no chance of reviving.
Jason Samenow contributed to this report.