The Hurricane Herald
This is the monthly newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The Hurricane Herald aims to give a summary, both of the activities of the WikiProject and global tropical cyclone activity. If you wish to change how you receive this newsletter, or no longer wish to receive it, please add your username to the appropriate section on the mailing list. This newsletter covers all of March 2008.
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Storm of the month
Cyclone Jokwe was the first tropical cyclone to make landfall in Mozambique since Cyclone Favio struck in the previous year. The tenth named storm of the 2007-08 South-West Indian Ocean cyclone season, Jokwe was first classified as a tropical depression on March 2 over the open Southwest Indian Ocean. It tracked west-southwest, crossing northern Madagascar as a tropical storm on March 5 before intensifying into a tropical cyclone on March 6. Jokwe rapidly intensified to reach peak winds of 195 km/h (120 mph), before weakening slightly and striking Nampula Province in northeastern Mozambique. It quickly weakened while paralleling the coastline, though the storm restrengthened as it turned southward in the Mozambique Channel. Late in its duration, it remained nearly stationary for several days, and steadily weakened due to wind shear before dissipating on March 16.
The storm caused minor damage in northern Madagascar. In Mozambique, the cyclone affected 165,000 people, and left at least sixteen fatalities. Cyclone Jokwe destroyed over 9,000 houses and damaged over 3,000 more, with the heaviest damage in Angoche and the Island of Mozambique in Nampula Province. The storm also caused widespread power outages and crop damages.
Other tropical cyclone activity
- There were no named tropical cyclones in the South Pacific ocean, though a tropical depression developed near Vanuatu in the third week of the month.
- Late in the month, Cyclone Pancho developed in the Australian region, reaching peak winds of 90 knots. In addition, Cyclone Ophelia lasted from late February through early March.
- In addition to Cyclone Jokwe, there were two named tropical cyclones in the Southwest Indian Ocean; Cyclone Kamba became an Intense Tropical Cyclone over open waters, and Tropical Storm Lola formed and dissipated near Mauritius late in the month.
Member of the month
The March member of the month is CapeVerdeWave, whose first edit was to a tropical cyclone article, back in January 2006. CapeVerdeWave has been a steady and active member of the project, writing several articles on Category 5 hurricanes as well as working on the often forgotten older hurricanes. The user also has contributed to some older season articles, and recently helped update the project after the recent hurricane re-analysis. We thank him for his continued dedication.
New members
New and improved articles
- There were 6 new pieces of Featured content : Typhoon Paka, List of wettest tropical cyclones in the United States, Effects of Hurricane Ivan in the Lesser Antilles and South America, List of retired Pacific typhoon names (JMA), Tropical Storm Vamei, and List of New York hurricanes
- New Good articles include: Hurricane Beulah, Hurricane Ione, Hurricane Isidore
- New storm articles include: 1945 Southeast Florida hurricane, Hurricane Fox (1952)
- New non-storm articles include: Effects of Hurricane Dennis in Florida, List of North Carolina hurricanes (1900-1949)
Main Page content
- Today's Featured Article: 1933 Atlantic hurricane season appeared on the Main Page in the Today's Featured Article on March 27
- Entries from 1 article: 1917 Pinar del Río hurricane appeared on the Main Page in the Did you know column during March.
Storm article statistics
| Grade | Dec | Jan | Feb | Mar |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 FA
|
33 | 33 | 36 | 38 |
 A
|
9 | 9 | 8 | 8 |
 GA
|
112 | 114 | 123 | 130 |
| B | 86 | 99 | 96 | 91 |
| Start | 208 | 214 | 216 | 211 |
| Stub | 6 | 3 | 6 | 9 |
| Total | 454 | 472 | 485 | 487 |
| ω | 2.98 | 2.98 | 2.96 | 2.94 |
| percentage Less than B |
47.1 | 46.0 | 45.8 | 45.2 |
| percentage GA or better |
33.9 | 33.1 | 34.3 | 36.1 |
Project News: Updates on the Best Track - Atlantic and North Indian Ocean, and more
In February, the Hurricane Research Division released its reanalysis for the Atlantic Ocean from 1915 to 1920. Highlights include the addition of eight storms, as well as the removal of one storm. The winds in the 1919 Florida Keys Hurricane were increased to 130 knots, and the 1916 Texas hurricane was increased to a Category 4 hurricane.
According to an email sent to the India Meteorological Department, there will be an online version of the North Indian Ocean best track from 1877 to 2006, scheduled to be released in two months; it is unknown if it will cost money to access.
In unrelated news, the project was featured on the Signpost; Mitchazenia was interviewed, and talked about the past, present, and future of the project.
At the end of the month, there were five different Featured content candidates (FXC's) by five different editors; two were featured article candidates, two were featured list candidates, and one was a featured picture candidate. The have been a few times in which there were four FXC's from four different editors, most recently in February and early March of 2008.