Satellite image of Cyclone Bonita approaching Madagascar
Meteorological history
Formed
3 January 1996
Remnant low
15 January
Dissipated
20 January 1996
Intense tropical cyclone
10-minute sustained (MFR)
Highest winds
185 km/h (115 mph)
Lowest pressure
920 hPa (mbar); 27.17 inHg
Category 4-equivalent tropical cyclone
1-minute sustained (SSHWS/JTWC)
Highest winds
250 km/h (155 mph)
Overall effects
Fatalities
~42
Areas affected
Madagascar, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Angola
IBTrACS
Part of the 1995–96 South-West Indian Ocean cyclone season
Intense Tropical Cyclone Bonita in January 1996 struck both Madagascar and Mozambique, causing severe damage. The long-lived storm began developing in the last hours of 1995, and slowly consolidated over the open waters of the South-West Indian Ocean. Tracking generally toward the west-southwest, the disturbance received its name from Météo-France on 5 January. Ultimately peaking as an intense tropical cyclone, Bonita bypassed Mauritius and Réunion to the north before striking northeastern Madagascar late on 10 January. There, the storm affected up to 150,000 people, flooded wide tracts of croplands, and killed 25 people. In the aftermath, disaster relief came from both the government of Madagascar and the international community, as well as non-governmental organizations (NGOs); the United Nations Department of Humanitarian Affairs assisted in the distribution of about $450,000 in monetary donations.
Bonita emerged into the Mozambique Channel as a significantly diminished storm, though it quickly regained some of its previous intensity. Three days after its initial landfall, the cyclone moved ashore over the Zambezia Province of Mozambique. Throughout northern parts of the country, Bonita triggered extensive flooding that damaged or destroyed hundreds of buildings and reportedly killed 17 individuals. Swollen rivers submerged roads and bridges, isolating some locations. A meteorological rarity, Bonita continued inland for several days, persisting as a distinct tropical low; the system traversed southern Africa and ultimately entered the South Atlantic Ocean. In the process, it dropped unseasonably heavy rainfall over Zimbabwe and Zambia. A paper published by the Zambia Meteorological Department asserted that Bonita was the first storm confirmed to have tracked across the African continent from the South-West Indian Ocean to the Southern Atlantic Ocean.
Intense Tropical CycloneBonita in January 1996 struck both Madagascar and Mozambique, causing severe damage. The long-lived storm began developing in...
and second longest-lived tropical cyclone ever recorded. CycloneBonita (1996) – another long-lasting tropical cyclone which also struck Madagascar and...
Tropical Cyclone Eloise was the strongest tropical cyclone to impact the country of Mozambique since Cyclone Kenneth in 2019 and the second of three consecutive...
and open waters. According to the Zambia Meteorological Department, CycloneBonita moved off the coast of Angola and entered the South Atlantic Ocean on...
Mozambique, including Quelimane. CycloneBonita in 1996 struck the northern coast of Mozambique 2 years after Nadia. Cyclone Hudah in 2000 made landfall in...
South-West Indian Ocean cyclone season was a moderately active season that included CycloneBonita, which was the first known tropical cyclone to cross from the...
commonly cause notable impacts over large areas, and most popular tropical cyclone scales are organized around sustained wind speeds. However, variations...
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Tropical cyclones are named for historical reasons and so as to avoid confusion when communicating with the public, as more than one tropical cyclone can exist...
from the storm was estimated at $50 million. After heavy damage from CycloneBonita in 1996, the government of Madagascar initiated a disaster response...
landfall at a similar strength in 2019 Cyclone Ivan – made a near identical track through Madagascar in 2008 CycloneBonita – devastated the same areas and took...
tape by Friday at 7:00 pm. One "writer" frequently credited on the show, Bonita Carlisle, was actually a nom de plume chosen by the writers' room indicating...
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10–15 ft (3.0–4.6 m) storm surge into Fort Myers Beach, Sanibel Island, and Bonita Springs, just south of where its eye made landfall. Combined with high winds...
was the most intense tropical cyclone ever recorded in the Atlantic basin, and the second-most intense tropical cyclone recorded in the Western Hemisphere...
Radio. Archived from the original on 2018-10-06. Retrieved 2018-10-05. "Cyclone in Ontario". The News and Alberta Irrigationist. July 30, 1902. Archived...
Hurricane Frances was the second most intense tropical cyclone in the Atlantic during 2004 and proved to be very destructive in Florida. It was the sixth...
Bonney". On August 17, 1877, Bonney was at a saloon in the village of Bonita when he got into an argument with Francis P. "Windy" Cahill, a blacksmith...
pressure of 914 hPa (27.0 inHg). Irma was the second-most intense tropical cyclone worldwide in 2017 in terms of barometric pressure, and the strongest worldwide...
needed] She played Lydia Webster in George M. Cohan's 1927 farce Baby Cyclone at Henry Miller's Theatre. On December 21, 1930, Moorhead married director...
The 1959 Atlantic hurricane season featured near normal tropical cyclone activity overall. The season officially began on June 15, 1959 and lasted until...
Hurricane Michelle was the fifth costliest tropical cyclone in Cuban history and the strongest hurricane of the 2001 Atlantic hurricane season. The thirteenth...
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