Record-breaking lifespan, rapid intensification, and long-lasting coastal activity of tropical cyclone Freddy (2023) in the South Indian Ocean
Tropical cyclone (TC) Freddy traversed the South Indian Ocean (SIO) in 2023, setting a record for longevity and ranking secondly among historical TCs for both accumulated cyclone energy and potential destructiveness. Freddy’s long lifespan benefited from an anomalously strong Mascarene High, which s...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
IOP Publishing
2025-01-01
|
| Series: | Environmental Research Letters |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/add7ec |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1849309558417129472 |
|---|---|
| author | Qian Wang Shoude Guan Can Luo Wei Zhao Ling Zhang Shunan Yang |
| author_facet | Qian Wang Shoude Guan Can Luo Wei Zhao Ling Zhang Shunan Yang |
| author_sort | Qian Wang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Tropical cyclone (TC) Freddy traversed the South Indian Ocean (SIO) in 2023, setting a record for longevity and ranking secondly among historical TCs for both accumulated cyclone energy and potential destructiveness. Freddy’s long lifespan benefited from an anomalously strong Mascarene High, which steered Freddy westward along its northern flank, thereby preventing it encountering cold water areas. In addition to its long lifespan, we found Freddy experienced a record-breaking six rapid intensification (RI) events and analyzed the atmosphere-ocean conditions driving Freddy’s multiple RI events. The results indicated that during the six RI events, Freddy experienced high sea surface temperatures, weak vertical wind shear, high potential intensity, and high relative humidity, with all four environmental factors more favorable than historical averages. Notably, three of these RI events occurred within the Mozambique Channel, which also prolonged its coastal activity (21 d). This phase of TC Freddy generated extreme rainfall with maximum cumulative precipitation of 877 mm, compounded by secondary disasters, which caused substantial economic losses and fatalities in coastal areas. Additionally, it was found that the frequency of RI events and the number of intense TCs reaching Category 4 or above in the SIO showed statistically significant upward trends during 1980–2023, indicating a growing threat to Africa, which is likely to face more intense TCs in a warming climate. With rising sea levels and increasing threat from TCs, greater focus on coastal disaster prevention and mitigation strategies is needed to address the escalating risks associated with TCs in the SIO in the context of global warming. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-09a250a7aa1e4eea80e0cccc1620208e |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1748-9326 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environmental Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj-art-09a250a7aa1e4eea80e0cccc1620208e2025-08-20T03:54:07ZengIOP PublishingEnvironmental Research Letters1748-93262025-01-0120606403810.1088/1748-9326/add7ecRecord-breaking lifespan, rapid intensification, and long-lasting coastal activity of tropical cyclone Freddy (2023) in the South Indian OceanQian Wang0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6215-4625Shoude Guan1https://orcid.org/0009-0001-9910-367XCan Luo2https://orcid.org/0009-0004-7307-5449Wei Zhao3Ling Zhang4Shunan Yang5National Meteorological Centre , Beijing, People’s Republic of ChinaState Key Laboratory of Physical Oceanography and Frontier Science Center for Deep Ocean Multispheres and Earth System (FDOMES)/Key Laboratory of Ocean Observation and Information of Hainan Province, Sanya Oceanographic Institution, Ocean University of China , Qingdao/Sanya, People’s Republic of China; Sanya Oceanographic Laboratory , Sanya, People’s Republic of ChinaState Key Laboratory of Physical Oceanography and Frontier Science Center for Deep Ocean Multispheres and Earth System (FDOMES)/Key Laboratory of Ocean Observation and Information of Hainan Province, Sanya Oceanographic Institution, Ocean University of China , Qingdao/Sanya, People’s Republic of ChinaNational Meteorological Centre , Beijing, People’s Republic of ChinaNational Meteorological Centre , Beijing, People’s Republic of ChinaNational Meteorological Centre , Beijing, People’s Republic of ChinaTropical cyclone (TC) Freddy traversed the South Indian Ocean (SIO) in 2023, setting a record for longevity and ranking secondly among historical TCs for both accumulated cyclone energy and potential destructiveness. Freddy’s long lifespan benefited from an anomalously strong Mascarene High, which steered Freddy westward along its northern flank, thereby preventing it encountering cold water areas. In addition to its long lifespan, we found Freddy experienced a record-breaking six rapid intensification (RI) events and analyzed the atmosphere-ocean conditions driving Freddy’s multiple RI events. The results indicated that during the six RI events, Freddy experienced high sea surface temperatures, weak vertical wind shear, high potential intensity, and high relative humidity, with all four environmental factors more favorable than historical averages. Notably, three of these RI events occurred within the Mozambique Channel, which also prolonged its coastal activity (21 d). This phase of TC Freddy generated extreme rainfall with maximum cumulative precipitation of 877 mm, compounded by secondary disasters, which caused substantial economic losses and fatalities in coastal areas. Additionally, it was found that the frequency of RI events and the number of intense TCs reaching Category 4 or above in the SIO showed statistically significant upward trends during 1980–2023, indicating a growing threat to Africa, which is likely to face more intense TCs in a warming climate. With rising sea levels and increasing threat from TCs, greater focus on coastal disaster prevention and mitigation strategies is needed to address the escalating risks associated with TCs in the SIO in the context of global warming.https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/add7ectropical cyclone Freddylongevityrapid intensificationcoastal activitySouth Indian Ocean |
| spellingShingle | Qian Wang Shoude Guan Can Luo Wei Zhao Ling Zhang Shunan Yang Record-breaking lifespan, rapid intensification, and long-lasting coastal activity of tropical cyclone Freddy (2023) in the South Indian Ocean Environmental Research Letters tropical cyclone Freddy longevity rapid intensification coastal activity South Indian Ocean |
| title | Record-breaking lifespan, rapid intensification, and long-lasting coastal activity of tropical cyclone Freddy (2023) in the South Indian Ocean |
| title_full | Record-breaking lifespan, rapid intensification, and long-lasting coastal activity of tropical cyclone Freddy (2023) in the South Indian Ocean |
| title_fullStr | Record-breaking lifespan, rapid intensification, and long-lasting coastal activity of tropical cyclone Freddy (2023) in the South Indian Ocean |
| title_full_unstemmed | Record-breaking lifespan, rapid intensification, and long-lasting coastal activity of tropical cyclone Freddy (2023) in the South Indian Ocean |
| title_short | Record-breaking lifespan, rapid intensification, and long-lasting coastal activity of tropical cyclone Freddy (2023) in the South Indian Ocean |
| title_sort | record breaking lifespan rapid intensification and long lasting coastal activity of tropical cyclone freddy 2023 in the south indian ocean |
| topic | tropical cyclone Freddy longevity rapid intensification coastal activity South Indian Ocean |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/add7ec |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT qianwang recordbreakinglifespanrapidintensificationandlonglastingcoastalactivityoftropicalcyclonefreddy2023inthesouthindianocean AT shoudeguan recordbreakinglifespanrapidintensificationandlonglastingcoastalactivityoftropicalcyclonefreddy2023inthesouthindianocean AT canluo recordbreakinglifespanrapidintensificationandlonglastingcoastalactivityoftropicalcyclonefreddy2023inthesouthindianocean AT weizhao recordbreakinglifespanrapidintensificationandlonglastingcoastalactivityoftropicalcyclonefreddy2023inthesouthindianocean AT lingzhang recordbreakinglifespanrapidintensificationandlonglastingcoastalactivityoftropicalcyclonefreddy2023inthesouthindianocean AT shunanyang recordbreakinglifespanrapidintensificationandlonglastingcoastalactivityoftropicalcyclonefreddy2023inthesouthindianocean |