Tropical cyclones of 2023

Beginning with Cyclone Freddy, which after developing close to Timor in early February has now traversed the entire Indian Ocean, crossed Madagascar, hit southern Africa, then re-emerged back into the Indian Ocean and is now just off southern Madagascar.

US National Weather Service finds the ENSO has transitioned to neutral, issues last La Niña advisory.

Looks like Australia might get a visit from an unusually strong tropical cyclone soon.

As for the hurricanes, there are some odd forecasts for an El Niño year, as it seems like this year the Pacific storms may be displaced south of their normal latitude and the Atlantic ones east.

A major tropical cyclone is developing in the Bay of Bengal.

We'll be delighted to know that the area where it's expected to make landfall on is full of refugee camps, thanks to the Burmese junta's reign of terror...

The NHC has officially recognized a subtropical storm that formed off the northeast coast of the US back in January, making it the first storm of the 2023 season.

The first named storm of the season, Alice, will be the second storm of the season.

Edited by tclittle on May 12th 2023 at 1:58:27 PM

Mocha made landfall near Settwe, Myanmar with winds at 209 kmph on Sunday.

Edited by tclittle on May 14th 2023 at 8:52:45 AM

Folks in Guam and surrounding islands should keep an eye on Typhoon Mawar - there are good odds of a landfall and it's clocking in at category 4-5 strength right now (albeit with a beginning eyewall replacement cycle)

Windy.com

It's virtually guaranteed to hit us on Guam at this point, and it's going to be one of the biggest typhoons we've had in some time. Last big storms were Pongsona and Chataan, and both of them knocked out the electricity for at least a month. They've already notified the southernmost villages with low-lying residences to evacuate, and the more central shelters are already reaching capacity.

As of right now it's mostly light rains with a strong breeze, but nothing severe... but I know that's probably going to change come Wednesday morning.

You guys probably won't hear from me for a couple of days, especially if the power outages end up affecting the cellular/data services, but we'll see how things go.

Edited by SgtRicko on May 23rd 2023 at 9:19:30 PM

Well, the island’s still (mostly) got power and water, and the winds haven’t gotten any worse since 10pm, and it’s 6am now, the original projected timeframe when the weather would increase in strength. We’re still taking things seriously though; according to the latest forecast from the Joint Typhoon Warning Center, the sustained winds will be at approx 160mph in a few hours when it hits. Oh yeah, and it’s officially being considered a super typhoon now.

Guam Daily Post: Mawar forecast to strengthen into Category 5 typhoon

NWS Tiyan has issued a Guam wide 14 hour Flash Flood Warning from 3:01 pm ChST to 5:45 am ChST.

Here it comes: Extreme Wind Warnings up for the northern parts of Guam until 6:45 pm ChST.

Edited by tclittle on May 24th 2023 at 3:00:02 AM

According to Guam Power Authority only less than 1000 out of 52,000 customers have electricity, and the winds are getting strong enough to lift cars now.

I’d show some videos of what’s being shared on social media here, but it’s mostly via Whats App, and I’m not sure how to link those here on TV Tropes.

EDIT: Also lost power at my job almost immediately after posting this - guess the generator ran out of fuel.

Edited by SgtRicko on May 24th 2023 at 7:00:20 PM

Mawar is nicking the northern part of Guam at the moment. Flash Flood Warnings and Extreme Wind Warnings have been extended.

This typhoon hit us HARD.

Very likely going to be the worst natural disaster Guam’s had since typhoon Paka back in 1997. Basically everything is gradually failing, even govt agencies.

Only reason I’m able to communicate is because of my job having priority; pretty sure it’d be impossible to communicate if I wasn’t since everyone outside of here is getting extremely difficult to reach via phone or text.

Edited by SgtRicko on May 24th 2023 at 9:44:57 PM

Mawar is back to Super Typhoon status again after punching Guam in the face.

Mawar is now at 185 mph, not only does this make it the strongest cyclone on the planet this year, this is only the third northwestern Pacific May typhoon to reach 180+.

Edited by tclittle on May 25th 2023 at 4:19:04 AM

It's also a pretty storm in satellite images.

Got back to an area with a working data connection. Figured I’d share what I’m seeing.

• No power and water anywhere, and telecommunications is dead in most places, including my residence.
• Gas is quickly becoming problematic. Only a few gas stations are up and running so far (and with limited supply) so that’s resulted in ridiculous lines waiting to refuel, and more than a few motorists getting stranded.
• My home was mostly lucky - just some flooding in the living room, and a bunch of our neighbors’s trees fell into our backyard. Big problem though is the power line - it’s hanging waaay too low, and the connection to our house looks like it might’ve been damaged. Might end up having to paying a couple thousand for that particular fix.
• Most businesses are still closed, likely due to said power and water issues. Hopefully that’ll change soon. Only crazy exception to that was King’s Restaurant - those guys stood open nearly throughout the entire typhoon, until it the winds got far too dangerous to continue… only for them to IMMEDIATELY resume business as soon as the weather died down. I get that part of the reason was due to them trying to fulfill govt contracts to keep employees on the field fed, but still!
• Certain roads were rendered impassable due to downed trees or erosion causing sinkholes. The village mayors are fortunately fixing the prior with good speed, but the sinkholes are probably gonna require govt equipment… which means you’ll be waiting awhile, especially if not in a critical area.

Arlene forms in the Gulf of Mexico as the first north Atlantic storm of the season. Not expected to last long thanks to increasing dry air and sheer.

A strong storm is developing west of India in the Arabian Sea. And despite already developing an eye, it hasn't been named yet...

Power was finally restored to my neighborhood and house after Tyhpoon Mawar, but unfortunately it seems like either the storm or a brown-out following the power restoration might've damaged some of the electronics in my house.

Already one outlet is burnt and destroyed a surge protector (the one in my room, to boot) and the lights in my house flicker and dim noticeably if I plug in anything, even a simple hair dryer. The light dimming is even more dramatic if it's done at the side of my house furthest from the electric weatherhead... not sure what that means, exactly, since I'm not an electrician. But for safety's sake, I'm guessing that means I won't be able to plug anything in on that end of the of the house, either until the electric company manages to stabilize the voltage or I hire an electrician.

Edited by SgtRicko on Jun 17th 2023 at 6:59:27 PM

Bret forms over the central Atlantic. The lesser Antilles should keep an eye out over the next several days.

Cindy forms back behind Bret and is not expected to make any land impacts.

The northeastern Pacific is finally starting to kick it into gear with Adrian having formed late in the afternoon on Tuesday and is already a hurricane, but luckily is moving out into the open Pacific.

Beatriz, on the other hand, just formed and is expected to rapidly intensify as it skirts along the southwestern Mexican coast as a hurricane over the weekend.

Edited by tclittle on Jun 29th 2023 at 4:45:31 AM

Typhoon Khanun is currently battering and is predicted to make an effective u turn on the Okinawa prefecture of Japan over the next week or so.

Edited by tclittle on Aug 2nd 2023 at 5:29:46 AM