April 26, 2022 - Tropical Cyclone Jasmine Takes Aim at Madagascar

Tropical Cyclone Jasmine

Tropical Cyclone Jasmine formed close to the eastern coast of Africa in the Mozambique channel in late April 2022. A disturbance in the Mozambique Channel was first reported on April 21, and by April 24 had strengthened to tropical cyclone strength and was given the name “Jasmine”. Tropical Cyclone Jasmine tracked southwards most of the day on April 25 before taking a turn towards southwestern Madagascar.

At 8:00 p.m. EDT on April 25 (0000 UTC April 26), the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) reported that Jasmine was carrying maximum sustained winds of about 63 mph (101 km/h) with gusts to 80 mph (129 km/h). It was located about 88 miles (142 km) east-southeast of Europa Island in the Mozambique Channel. It was tracking south-southeastward at about 4.6 mph (7.4 km/h) and pushing waves with a maximum height of 19 feet (5.8 meters). This should be about peak strength for the storm, with the JTWC forecasting a decrease in wind speed prior to landfall over Madagascar late on April 26 or April 27.

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired a true-color image of Tropical Cyclone Jasmine on April 25. At the time the image was captured, the large cloud-filled center of the storm appeared to have passed the midpoint between Africa (west) and Madagascar (east) as it traversed the Mozambique Channel. Convective bands from the southeast quadrant of the asymmetric storm were already covering the southwestern coast of Madagascar, bringing increased wind and rain ahead of expected landfall.

If Tropical Cyclone Jasmine makes landfall as predicted, it will be the sixth storm to make landfall in Madagascar in 2022. The cyclone season in that region usually runs between November and March. About 80 percent of the people in that country depend on agriculture for a living and have been suffering from two years of extreme drought. The severe cyclone season of 2022 has had severe impact on many crops, such as cloves, coffee, and pepper.

Image Facts
Satellite: Aqua
Date Acquired: 4/25/2022
Resolutions: 1km (722.1 KB), 500m (2.1 MB), 250m (5.8 MB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC