Cyclone Indlala: Satellite Pic at Peak Intensity

NASA now has an image up of what was our strongest storm so far this year--Cyclone Indlala, which was a mid-range Category 4 at its peak with 125 knot winds (144 mph). Pressure is estimated, by the University of Wisconsin folks, to have dropped down to 919 millibars. As for damage, we don't know that much yet, but there have apparently been heavy losses to the vanilla crop in Madagascar and especially around the cyclone-plagued Antalaha. Today the U.N. made an appeal for $ 9.6 million in humanitarian aid to Madagascar. Some other news: the gigantic Cyclone Gamede, which also affected Madagascar, has officially set a new world record for rainfall: "most precipitation in a 72-hour period." La Réunion got 12.9 feet (converts to 3.929 meters)! Jeff Masters has the details. I suspect that scientists like Kevin Trenberth might be inclined to bring up global warming in this context: Due ...