Intense Tropical Cyclone Ernest was one of two

intense tropical cyclones ''Intense'' is the fifth studio album by Dutch DJ and record producer Armin van Buuren. It was released on 3 May 2013 by Armada Music. The first song announced to be on the album is " Waiting for the Night", featuring the singer Fiora, which wa ...

in the

2004–05 South-West Indian Ocean cyclone season The 2004–05 South-West Indian Ocean cyclone season was a near average season, despite beginning unusually early on August 30 with the formation of an early-season tropical depression. Météo-France's meteorological office in Réunion (MFR ...

. The eighth tropical disturbance of the season, Ernest formed from a persistent area of thunderstorms in the central Indian Ocean. It initially moved southwestward, intensifying into Tropical Storm Ernest on January 20 while moving into the

Mozambique Channel The Mozambique Channel (french: Canal du Mozambique, mg, Lakandranon'i Mozambika, pt, Canal de Moçambique) is an arm of the Indian Ocean located between the Southeast African countries of Madagascar and Mozambique. The channel is about long ...

. After hitting

Mayotte Mayotte (; french: Mayotte, ; Shimaore: ''Maore'', ; Kibushi: ''Maori'', ), officially the Department of Mayotte (french: Département de Mayotte), is an overseas department and region and single territorial collectivity of France. It is loc ...

, the storm quickly intensified to reach peak winds of 165 km/h (105 mph 10 minute winds) off the western coast of

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

. Ernest weakened slightly before striking the southwest portion of that country on January 23, producing widespread flooding and gusty winds. The next day the cyclone became

extratropical Extratropical cyclones, sometimes called mid-latitude cyclones or wave cyclones, are low-pressure areas which, along with the anticyclones of high-pressure areas, drive the weather over much of the Earth. Extratropical cyclones are capable of p ...

before dissipating on January 25. On Mayotte, Ernest produced peak wind gusts of 98 km/h (61 mph). The storm drew moisture away from

Malawi Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast ...

, causing a nine-day period of dry conditions. A few days after Ernest struck Madagascar, Tropical Storm Felapi affected the same region and produced further flooding. The combined effects of the storms killed 78 people and left over 32,000 homeless. Widespread crop damage sparked food protests, although the

World Food Programme The World Food Programme; it, Programma alimentare mondiale; es, Programa Mundial de Alimentos; ar, برنامج الأغذية العالمي, translit=barnamaj al'aghdhiat alealami; russian: Всемирная продовольствен� ...

provided an emergency supply of rice to affected residents.

Meteorological history

An area of

convection Convection is single or multiphase fluid flow that occurs spontaneously due to the combined effects of material property heterogeneity and body forces on a fluid, most commonly density and gravity (see buoyancy). When the cause of the convec ...

persisted on January 16 to the west of

Diego Garcia Diego Garcia is an island of the British Indian Ocean Territory, a disputed overseas territory of the United Kingdom. It is a militarised atoll just south of the equator in the central Indian Ocean, and the largest of the 60 small islands o ...

, and that day

Météo-France Météo-France is the French national meteorological service. Organisation The organisation was established by decree in June 1993 and is a department of the Ministry of Transportation. It is headquartered in Paris but many domestic operatio ...

(MF) classified the system as Tropical Disturbance 08. The system maintained thunderstorms over a developing circulation, located in an area of weak to moderate

wind shear Wind shear (or windshear), sometimes referred to as wind gradient, is a difference in wind speed and/or direction over a relatively short distance in the atmosphere. Atmospheric wind shear is normally described as either vertical or horizontal ...

. It developed

outflow Outflow may refer to: *Capital outflow, the capital leaving a particular economy *Bipolar outflow, in astronomy, two continuous flows of gas from the poles of a star *Outflow (hydrology), the discharge of a lake or other reservoir system * Outflow ...

and gradually organized, prompting the

Joint Typhoon Warning Center The Joint typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) is a joint United States Navy – United States Air Force command in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The JTWC is responsible for the issuing of tropical cyclone warnings in the North-West Pacific Ocean, South P ...

(JTWC) to issue a

tropical cyclone formation alert A Tropical Cyclone Formation Alert (TCFA) is a bulletin released by the U.S. Navy-operated Joint Typhoon Warning Center in Honolulu, Hawaii or the Fleet Weather Center in Norfolk, Virginia, warning of the possibility of a tropical cyclone forming ...

on January 17. That day, the MF discontinued advisories after the system briefly halted its development trend. The disturbance continued its movement to the west-southwest, and on January 19 began intensifying. That day, the JTWC classified it as Tropical Cyclone 12S to the north of the northern coast of Madagascar. After continued development, MF upgraded the system to Tropical Storm Ernest on January 20. After attaining tropical storm status, Ernest entered the

and turned to the southwest. It developed outflow on opposite sides of the storm, and an eye gradually became evident. While strengthening, Ernest moved over

and passed southeast of

Comoros The Comoros,, ' officially the Union of the Comoros,; ar, الاتحاد القمري ' is an independent country made up of three islands in southeastern Africa, located at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean. It ...

. By late on January 20, the storm

rapidly intensified In meteorology, rapid intensification is a situation where a tropical cyclone intensifies dramatically in a short period of time. The United States National Hurricane Center defines rapid intensification as an increase in the maximum sustained wi ...

over warm waters into a

tropical cyclone A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...

– the equivalent of a 120 km/h (75 mph) hurricane. Around that time, Ernest had turned to the south, along the western periphery of a

ridge A ridge or a mountain ridge is a geographical feature consisting of a chain of mountains or hills that form a continuous elevated crest for an extended distance. The sides of the ridge slope away from the narrow top on either side. The line ...

. On January 22, MF upgraded the storm into an intense tropical cyclone with peak winds of 165 km/h (105 mph 10 minute winds) when it was located off the west coast of Madagascar. At around the same time, the JTWC estimated Ernest attained peak winds of 185 km/h (115 mph 1 minute sustained). While at peak intensity, Ernest was a small cyclone with

gale A gale is a strong wind; the word is typically used as a descriptor in nautical contexts. The U.S. National Weather Service defines a gale as sustained surface winds moving at a speed of between 34 and 47 knots (, or ). After maintaining peak winds for about 12 hours, the cyclone began weakening while turning to the southeast. On January 23, Ernest made

landfall Landfall is the event of a storm moving over land after being over water. More broadly, and in relation to human travel, it refers to 'the first land that is reached or seen at the end of a journey across the sea or through the air, or the fact ...

on the southwest coast of Madagascar at

Itampolo Itampolo is a town and commune ( mg, kaominina) in southwestern Madagascar. It belongs to the district of Ampanihy, which is a part of Atsimo-Andrefana Region. The population of the commune was estimated to be approximately 32,000 in 2001 commune ...

, with winds estimated at 130 km/h (80 mph). The cyclone accelerated to the southeast across the island and quickly weakened into a tropical storm. Late on January 23, the JTWC issued its last advisory after Ernest began transitioning into an

extratropical cyclone Extratropical cyclones, sometimes called mid-latitude cyclones or wave cyclones, are low-pressure areas which, along with the anticyclones of high-pressure areas, drive the weather over much of the Earth. Extratropical cyclones are capable of ...

. Early the next day, MF declared Ernest extratropical, and continued tracking it until the storm dissipated on January 25 in the southern Indian Ocean.

Impact and aftermath

The storm first struck Mayotte, affecting the island with gale-force gusts for about six hours. Sustained winds reached 78 km/h (48 mph), and wind gusts peaked at 98 km/h (61 mph). Effects on the island were minimal. Cyclone Ernest indirectly affected Malawi, located inland in southeast Africa. The storm's circulation removed moisture from the country and prevented any rainfall from occurring in the southern part of the country during a nine-day period. In southern Madagascar, the cyclone produced high winds and heavy rainfall. The highest rainfall was a 24‑hour total of , and the highest wind gust was , both of which observed in

Toliara Toliara (also known as ''Toliary'', ; formerly ''Tuléar'') is a city in Madagascar. It is the capital of the Atsimo-Andrefana region, located 936 km southwest of national capital Antananarivo. The current spelling of the name was adopted ...

. Many fishermen in the area were not aware of the storm's approach, and several of them died as a result. About five days after Cyclone Ernest struck Madagascar, Tropical Storm Felapi struck the same general area, causing additional flooding. The combined effects of Ernest and Felapi killed 39 people, injured 104, and left 214 people missing as of February 25, 2005. Later, the death toll was finalized at 78 in the International Disaster Database. The storms damaged 5,792 buildings, and there were 32,191 people left homeless. The floods damaged about 4,483 hectares (11,078 acres) of crop fields in southern Madagascar. Portions of the country faced shortages of rice due to crop damage from Ernest, as well as from

Cyclone Gafilo Very Intense Tropical Cyclone Gafilo was both the most intense tropical cyclone ever recorded in the South-West Indian Ocean and the most intense tropical cyclone worldwide in 2004. Being unusually large and intense, Gafilo was the deadliest a ...

in the previous year. This caused prices to increase, resulting in street protests. As a result, the

provided 45 tons of rice to affected residents, although persistent flooding disrupted relief work. In general, damage from Ernest and Felapi were less than that from Gafilo in the previous year. Madagascar's National Emergency Centre deployed workers to do search and rescue missions and provide water to storm victims.

References

External links

Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC)
.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ernest (2005) 2004–05 South-West Indian Ocean cyclone season Intense Tropical Cyclones Cyclones in Madagascar

Ernest Ernest is a given name derived from Germanic languages, Germanic word ''ernst'', meaning "serious". Notable people and fictional characters with the name include: People *Archduke Ernest of Austria (1553–1595), son of Maximilian II, Holy Roman ...