Severe Tropical Storm Hubert was a destructive

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. Dep ...

that killed 85 people throughout

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 ...

early March 2010. Forming out of a slow-moving

area of low pressure In meteorology, a low-pressure area, low area or low is a region where the atmospheric pressure is lower than that of surrounding locations. Low-pressure areas are commonly associated with inclement weather (such as cloudy, windy, with possibl ...

on March 9, Hubert quickly developed within a region favoring tropical development. Situated off the coast of Madagascar, the storm attained peak winds of 100 km/h (65 mph) just hours before making

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 March 10 near

Mananjary Mananjary is a city located in Vatovavy, Madagascar with a population of 25,222 inhabitants in 2018. It is the chief city of the Mananjary district. It contains a town of the same name, situated on the southern part of the east coast, where the M ...

Fianarantsoa Province Fianarantsoa Province is a former province of Madagascar. It has an area of 103,272 km2 and population of 3,366,291 (July 2001 estimate). Its capital was Fianarantsoa. The province along with the 5 other was abolished in 2007 in favour of cre ...

. Rapid weakening took place once over land, with the storm losing gale-force winds late on March 11. The remnants of Hubert persisted for several more days, eventually dissipating off the southern coast of Madagascar on March 15. Throughout much of central Madagascar, Hubert produced heavy rains, measured up to in Mananjary, that caused widespread flooding. Thousands of structures were destroyed by the ensuing floods and more than 66,000 people were left homeless.

Meteorological history

Severe Tropical Storm Hubert was first identified as an

off the northeastern coast of

on March 5, 2010. Slowly tracking south-southwestward, the system paralleled the eastern shore of Madagascar for several days. On March 9, the

Regional Specialized Meteorological Center A Regional Specialized Meteorological Centre (RSMC) is responsible for the distribution of information, advisories, and warnings regarding the specific program they have a part of, agreed by consensus at the World Meteorological Organization as p ...

for the South-West Indian Ocean basin,

Météo-France Météo-France is the France, French national Meteorology, 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 man ...

, classified the low as a tropical depression, the 13th of the season. Situated in a region of weak steering currents, the depression was quasi-stationary and environmental conditions, low

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 horizon ...

and good

divergence In vector calculus, divergence is a vector operator that operates on a vector field, producing a scalar field giving the quantity of the vector field's source at each point. More technically, the divergence represents the volume density of t ...

, favored gradual

development Development or developing may refer to: Arts *Development hell, when a project is stuck in development *Filmmaking, development phase, including finance and budgeting *Development (music), the process thematic material is reshaped *Photographi ...

. Within hours of this, 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) issued 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 formi ...

for the depression. The formation of

convective 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 ...

banding features took place throughout the day and intensification into a moderate tropical storm was anticipated. Though convection tended to fluctuate, a general organizing trend was apparent. Early on March 10, the JTWC classified the system as Tropical Cyclone 18S as deep convection consolidated around the storm's center. Around 1200 UTC on March 10, Météo-France upgraded the system to a moderate tropical storm and assigned it with the name ''Hubert''. This corresponded with the early stages of eye formation, as the storm's outer bands wrapped tightly around the center of circulation. Previously quasi-stationary, Hubert gained a southwesterly track in response to 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 ...

to its south.

Rapid intensification 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 ...

ensued in the hours before the cyclone made

in Madagascar. Just six hours after being named, Hubert attained its peak intensity as a severe tropical storm with winds of 100 km/h (65 mph) along with a

barometric pressure Atmospheric pressure, also known as barometric pressure (after the barometer), is the pressure within the atmosphere of Earth. The standard atmosphere (symbol: atm) is a unit of pressure defined as , which is equivalent to 1013.25 millibar ...

of 985

mbar The bar is a metric unit of pressure, but not part of the International System of Units (SI). It is defined as exactly equal to 100,000 Pa (100 kPa), or slightly less than the current average atmospheric pressure on Earth at sea le ...

(

hPa HPA may refer to: Organizations * Harry Potter Alliance, a charity * Halifax Port Authority, Canada * Hamburg Port Authority, Germany * Hawaii Preparatory Academy, a school in Hawaii, US * Health Protection Agency, UK * Heerespersonalamt, the Ge ...

; 29.09

inHg Inch of mercury (inHg and ″Hg) is a non- SI unit of measurement for pressure. It is used for barometric pressure in weather reports, refrigeration and aviation in the United States. It is the pressure exerted by a column of mercury in heigh ...

). At this time, the storm's

radius of maximum wind The radius of maximum wind (RMW) is the distance between the center of a cyclone and its band of strongest winds. It is a parameter in atmospheric dynamics and tropical cyclone forecasting. The highest rainfall rates occur near the RMW of trop ...

s was . The JTWC assessed the system to have been slightly weaker, reporting peak winds of 85 km/h (50 mph). Around 2100 UTC, the center of Hubert moved onshore near the city of

. Once overland, the storm abruptly turned northwestward and rapidly weakened as sustained winds dropped below gale-force. During the latter part of March 11, Hubert resumed a southwesterly track along the northwestern edge of the ridge to its south. Operational advisories on the storm indicated that Hubert would continue to deteriorate over Madagascar before moving over 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 ...

where it could regenerate. This forecast never verified as the remnants of the storm failed to redevelop. The circulation remained over Madagascar through March 13 before it moved offshore near the southern tip of the island. Once over water, the system temporarily had a more westerly tracking component before it turned southeastward. The remnants of Hubert were last noted on March 15 to the south of Madagascar.

Impact

Upon making landfall in Madagascar, Tropical Storm Hubert unleashed heavy rains and hurricane-force winds. A peak gust of was recorded in Manajary. The highest 24‑hour rainfall of was recorded in the same city. Seven districts in the country were significantly affected by the storm, with thousands of residents cut off from outside areas as roads were washed away. Numerous bridges were destroyed and land access to many towns was impossible months after the storm passed. Wells were contaminated by the floods, prompting fears that an ongoing outbreak of

Chikungunya Chikungunya is an infection caused by the ''Chikungunya virus'' (CHIKV). Symptoms include fever and joint pains. These typically occur two to twelve days after exposure. Other symptoms may include headache, muscle pain, joint swelling, and a ras ...

would spread more rampantly. At least 85 people are known to have been killed by the storm and another 35 listed as missing. Additionally, 132 people sustained storm-related injuries. According to reports in early April, an estimated 66,000 people were left homeless by the storm.

References

External links

Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC)
.
Météo France (RSMC La Réunion)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hubert (2010)

Hubert Hubert is a Germanic given name, Germanic masculine given name, from ''hug'' "mind" and ''beraht'' "bright". It also occurs as a surname. Saint Hubertus, Hubertus or Hubert (c. 656 – 30 May 727) is the patron saint of hunters, mathematicians, ...

Hubert 2010 Tropical Storm Hubert

Meteorological history

Impact

See also

References

External links