On December 23, Cyclone Carmen passed just west of Rodrigues, producing heavy rainfall and wind gusts of 216 km/h (134 mph). The storm also dropped rainfall on Réunion.[1]
Prior to Cyclone Freddy in 2023, Cyclone Georgette was the longest-lasting tropical cyclone in the South-West Indian Ocean basin since the advent of satellite imagery.[2] It formed on January 10, 1968, well to the northeast of the Mascarene Islands. Tracking generally westward, Georgette struck northern Madagascar on January 15 as a tropical storm. It moved southwestward in the Mozambique Channel, crossing over eastern Mozambique on January 19. It quickly reached open waters while gradually intensifying, executing a loop off of eastern Mozambique. Georgette continued to the southeast, passing over southern Madagascar on January 28.[3] It was last noted on February 2 after lasting for 24 days.[2]
Georgette killed one person in the Comoros, eight in Mozambique, and 23 in Madagascar. The storm brought heavy, but beneficial rainfall to Réunion.[4]
The eye of Cyclone Monique passed just northwest of Rodrigues, producing a minimum pressure of 933 mbar (27.6 inHg), as well as wind gusts of 276 km/h (171 mph) in the island's interior; this was the highest wind gust on record for the island. The winds wrecked most of the island's crops and destroyed many houses while also causing severe erosion. The outskirts of Monique also produced high waves and dropped rainfall in Réunion.[8][9][10]
^Hurricane Carmen, 19-27 December. National Climatic Data Center (Report). Global tropical/extratropical cyclone climatic atlas. 1996. Retrieved February 14, 2019.
^Kenneth R. Knapp; Michael C. Kruk; David H. Levinson; Howard J. Diamond; Charles J. Neumann (2010). 1968 11S:Georgette (1968009S13071). The International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship (IBTrACS): Unifying tropical cyclone best track data (Report). Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. Archived from the original on 2016-03-05. Retrieved 2014-07-15.
^Hurricane Georgette, 9-31 January. National Climatic Data Center (Report). Global tropical/extratropical cyclone climatic atlas. 1996. Retrieved February 14, 2019.
^Hurricane Henriette, 17-26 January. National Climatic Data Center (Report). Global tropical/extratropical cyclone climatic atlas. 1996. Retrieved February 14, 2019.
^Tropical Storm Karine, 6-13 March. National Climatic Data Center (Report). Global tropical/extratropical cyclone climatic atlas. 1996. Retrieved February 14, 2019.
^Hurricane Monique, 26 March-3 April. National Climatic Data Center (Report). Global tropical/extratropical cyclone climatic atlas. 1996. Retrieved February 12, 2019.
