Cyclone Bingiza

Tropical Cyclone Bingiza

Tropical cyclone (SWIO scale)
Category 3 (Saffir–Simpson scale)
Cyclone Bingiza approaching Madagascar on February 13
Formed	February 9, 2011
Dissipated	February 19, 2011
(Extratropical after February 17)
Highest winds	10-minute sustained: 155 km/h (100 mph) 1-minute sustained: 185 km/h (115 mph)
Lowest pressure	957 hPa (mbar); 28.26 inHg
Fatalities	34 total
Areas affected	Madagascar
Part of the 2010–11 South-West Indian Ocean cyclone season

Tropical Cyclone Bingiza was the only named storm to make landfall in the inactive 2010–11 South-West Indian Ocean cyclone season. The second of three storms, Bingiza developed on February 9 to the northeast of Madagascar. For a few days it meandered generally southwestward, failing to intensify significantly. On February 12, the storm began a steady westward track as environmental conditions became more favorable. In a 24‑hour period, Bingiza developed from a moderate tropical storm into an intense tropical cyclone with a well-defined eye. After attaining peak 10–minute sustained winds of 155 km/h (100 mph), the cyclone moved ashore in northeastern Madagascar on February 14 and quickly weakened as it crossed the country. It emerged into the Mozambique Channel as a weak tropical disturbance, and it turned southward to move across western Madagascar. Bingiza attained tropical storm status before making its final landfall near Morondava, dissipating on February 18.

Across Madagascar, the cyclone killed 34 people and injured 13 others. High winds destroyed 25,464 houses, which left 25,845 people homeless. Bingiza first affected the Masoala National Park, destroying half of a village and leaving it isolated. High winds and heavy rainfall left over 500 km²km (195 mi²) of damaged crops, which increased food prices and threatened the economic livelihoods of the affected people.

The origins of Cyclone Bingiza were from a persistent area of disorganized convection on February 8, about 880 km (545 mi) north-northeast of Réunion. At the time, the system consisted of a poorly defined circulation, located in an area of low wind shear. It moved west-southwestward along the northern periphery of a ridge, and its convection gradually became more organized over the center. On February 9, Météo-France (MF) classified the system as Tropical Disturbance 5, and six hours later upgraded it to a tropical depression. Shortly thereafter, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) issued a tropical cyclone formation alert after convective banding and outflow increased. Following intensification of the depression into a moderate tropical storm, MF advised the Madagascan Weather Service to name the storm as Bingiza which they did late on February 9.