Portal:Tropical cyclones/Anniversaries/March

March 1

  • 1983 - Cyclone Oscar (pictured) passed near Fiji, causing US$130 million in damage and nine deaths.
  • 1988 - Cyclone Filao moved ashore Mozambique, causing floods that killed about 100 people.
  • 2000 - Tropical Storm Gloria hit northern Madagascar and drifted south over the island. Gloria killed about 150 people.

March 2


March 3

  • 1982 - Tonga's worst storm in their history, Cyclone Isaac (pictured), moved through the island group, causing six deaths and leaving 45,000 people homeless.

March 4

  • 1899 - Cyclone Mahina made landfall at Bathurst Bay in Far North Queensland, Australia, generating a storm surge of 14.6 m (48 ft), the highest storm surge ever recorded. A pressure of 880 hPa (25.99 inHg) was recorded during the storm, making it the most intense Australian cyclone, as well as the most intense recorded tropical cyclone in the southern hemisphere. Mahina killed more than 400 people.
  • 2006 - Tropical Storm Diwa passed northwest of Réunion island in the south-west Indian Ocean; over four days, the storm dropped 2,943 mm (115.9 in) of rainfall, causing floods and leading to eight deaths.

March 5

  • 1995 - Cyclone Violet reached peak strength as a Category 3 severe tropical cyclone east of Australia.
  • 2002 - Typhoon Mitag (pictured) with 1-minute sustained winds of 260 km/h (160 mph), the first ever recorded March super typhoon in the Western Pacific.
  • 2021 - Cyclone Niran was the strongest storm of the 2020-21 Australian Region cyclone season, peaking with 260 km/h (160 mph).

March 6

  • 1988 - The remnants of Cyclone Bola started bringing rainfall to New Zealand, where the storm killed three people and left US$82 million in damage.
  • 2021 - Cyclone Niran (pictured) brushed the southern coast of New Caledonia, resulting in US$200 million in damage.

March 7


March 8

  • 1908 - A rare off-season hurricane struck the Leeward Islands from the northeast. It was the only March Atlantic tropical cyclone on record.
  • 1997 - Cyclone Gavin reached peak intensity with 1-minute sustained winds of 220 km/h (140 mph) and a pressure of 925 mbar as it affected Vanuatu and Fiji, killing 18 people and damaging US$23.7 million.
  • 2008 - Cyclone Jokwe (pictured) struck northern Mozambique, killing 16 people.

March 9

  • 2000 - Cyclone Steve made the last of four landfalls on Australia, after moving around most of the country in a counterclockwise direction.
  • 2005 - Cyclone Ingrid (pictured) struck the Cape York Peninsula in northeastern Australia, and later moved across Northern and Western Australia, killing five people.

March 10

  • 1973 - Cyclone Lydie passed near Réunion in the south-west Indian Ocean near peak intensity, killing ten people on the island.
  • 2002 - Cyclone Hary (pictured) brushed the east coast of Madagascar as a very intense tropical cyclone, killing three people in the country.
  • 2010 - Tropical Storm Hubert struck eastern Madagascar, killing 85 people.

March 11


March 12

  • 2012 - Tropical Storm Irina became extratropical after meandering in the southern Mozambique Channel; along its path, the storm killed 77 people in Madagascar and southeastern Africa.
  • 2014 - Cyclone Lusi (pictured) reached peak intensity with a minimum pressure of 960 mbar, which killed a total of 10 people over in Vanuatu and Fiji.

March 13

  • 2003 - Cyclone Erica reached its peak intensity with 240 km/h (150 mph) just before it brushed the southwestern coast of New Caledonia. Erica killed 2 people on the island and caused significant damage.
  • 2015 - Cyclone Pam (pictured) reaches peak strength with 1-minute sustained winds of 270 km/h (165 mph) and a minimum pressure of 896 hPa, which killed 16 people and damaged US$360.4 million mostly in New Caledonia and Vanuatu.

March 14

  • 1994 - Cyclone Litanne reached its peak intensity with 240 km/h (150 mph) winds. Litanne struck the eastern coast of Madagascar the next day.
  • 2007 - Cyclone Indlala reached peak intensity before moving ashore eastern Madagascar, killing 150 people on the island.
  • 2010 - Cyclone Ului (pictured) reached peak strength as a Category 5 with 10-minute winds of 215 km/h (130 mph) as it enters the Australian region basin.

March 15

  • 1889 - A cyclone passed over Apia, Samoa, wrecking 6 naval ships moored there, killing at least 147 American and German sailors.
  • 1986 - Cyclone Honorinina struck eastern Madagascar, killing 99 people.
  • 2019 – One of the worst tropical cyclones to affect Africa, Cyclone Idai (pictured) made landfall over Mozambique. Idai killed over 1,300 people with more than 2,000 people missing. With estimated damages of US$2.2 billion, Idai also became the costliest tropical cyclone in the South-West Indian Ocean basin, as well as the costliest natural disaster in Africa.

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