Freddy Likely To Set New World Record For Longest-Lasting Tropical Cyclone, Continues To Strengthen

Well, we are going to turn our attention now to the Indian Ocean, where within the hour, Cyclone Freddy, which formed back on February 6th, is likely to break the world record for the longest-lived tropical cyclone. Now, the World Meteorological Organization will have to make the official determination for this once Freddy has dissipated. And joining us now with more on the likelihood of this occurring is Ann Claire Fountain, the scientific officer for the World Meteorological Organization's Tropical Cyclone Program. And thank you so much for being with us today on Fox Weather. That's the very latest on Freddy. What is the scenario to. Okay, so Freddy is.

Yeah, as you know that he was lingering in Mozambique for a while, so now he's back on the Mozambique channel. He has been impacting Madagascar again. And now he's back on track towards Mozambique, which he should make a long fall by late Friday as, let's say, a category two equivalent on your surface Simpsons scale. So, it's gaining energy again. Yeah, so it's strengthening once again. That's what we can see right there on infrared satellite. Ann Claire, talk to us about how likely it is that Cyclone Freddy will break the world record of the longest-lived cyclone.

Well, actually, yeah, it's a remarkable longevity when you think about it because he was starting to be monitored by our colleague from the Bureau of Meteorology in Australia on the 3rd of February. And then he was named on the 6th of February. You know, it's like in Atlantic for the hurricane. It's named when it reached the intensity of tropical storm. So since the 6th of February, he has been named Freddy. And then he has crossed all over the southern Indian Ocean, meaning more than 5,000 miles. So the thing is that WMO is taking this very seriously.

So we are establishing an expert committee actually to evaluate whether Freddy will break the record of the longest-lasting tropical cyclone. Because what we will have to evaluate as well is during his long lifetime, Freddy has periodically weakened below the tropical storm status. And so the expert committee will have to address whether this will be a concern in the evaluation of whether Freddy will break the record or not. Yeah, so, so, and Claire, regardless, we know that damaging winds, storm surge, flash flooding will be a major concern for folks. Not just in Madagascar, but also certainly at Northern Mozambique by the time Freddy makes landfall. Scientific officer with the tropical cyclone program and Claire Fonten, thank you so much for your wonderful insight. And we'll be watching Cyclone Freddy very closely in the days to come.

I'm Amy Freese. Welcome to Fox Weather's YouTube page. We have more great videos on the way, so make sure to subscribe to stay updated on all things weather.

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