Tropical Cyclone Weekly Summary #244 (March 31 - April 7, 1996)

[Jack Beven]

This report is compiled from warnings issued by:
National Hurricane Center Central Pacific Hurricane Center
Naval Pacific Meteor./Ocean. Center Fiji Meteorological Service
Meteorological Service of New Zealand Joint Typhoon Warning Center
Japanese Meteorological Agency Bureau of Meteorology, Australia
Philippine Meteorological Service Royal Observatory of Hong Kong
Indian Meteorological Department Reunion Meteorological Service
Mauritius Meteorological Service
(others may be added as they become available)

Author's Notes: I've got a lot of announcements this week. First, I
apologize for my delay in getting this summary out. I'll be trying to catch
up over the next few weeks. Second, I took a vacation during part of this
period. I would like to thank Roger Edwards of the Storm Prediction Center
for keeping track of the tropical cyclones while I was away. Third, I extend
special thanks to Mohammad Sultan of Mauritius for passing along data from
Tropical Cyclone Hansella. Fourth, I extend special thanks Arvind Mungur of
of Middlesex University in the United Kingdom for passing along some late
data from Tropical Cyclone Edwige.

Lastly, and most importantly, the weekly summary archive has moved. The
Florida State site is now defunct, and I would like to thank Dr. T. N.
Krishnamurti and his staff who granted me the disc space for the past two
years. The new archive site is courtesy of the International Weather Watchers
and is located at URL:

http://groundhog.sprl.unich.edu/iww/tropics

I would like to extend special thanks to Bill Trotter, Buddy Potts, and
Steve Ambrose of the IWW for allowing me to store my summaries on their site.


WEEKLY TROPICAL CYCLONE SUMMARY #244 MARCH 31 - APRIL 7, 1996

North Atlantic Basin: No tropical cyclones.

Eastern North Pacific Basin (E of 140 Deg. W): No tropical cyclones.

Central North Pacific Basin (180 Deg. W to 140 Deg. W): No tropical cyclones.

Western North Pacific Basin (W of 180 Deg.):

Tropical Storm Ann: Tropical Depression 2W formed near 9N 146E on 2 April.
Initially moving west-northwest, the system turned west the next day as it
reached tropical storm strength. Ann weakened to a depression on 4 April,
then it regained minimal tropical storm strength on 5 April. At the end of
the summary period, Ann was moving west toward the central Philippine Islands
at its peak (to date) intensity of 35 kt.

North Indian Ocean Basin: No tropical cyclones.

South Indian Ocean Basin (W of 135 Deg. E):

Tropical Cyclone Hansella (TC-24S): Tropical Cyclone 24S formed near
16S 72E on 3 April. Initially moving west, the system continued this track
while strengthening on 4 April. Hansella turned west-southwest on 5 April as
it reached hurricane strength, then it slowly recurved southeast on 6 April
as it reached a peak intensity of 90 kt. At the end of the summary period,
Hansella was just southeast of Rodrigues Island.

Hansella had a serious affect on Rodrigues Island, which reported was in
the eye for 5 to 7 hr. The island reported a minimum pressure of 963.0 mb at
1500 UTC 6 April, with a peak gust of 96 kt (exact time unknown). Pointe
Canon reported a 24 hr rainfall of 10.57 in (268.6 mm). There are no reported
casualties, however 98% of the fruit trees and 90% of the maize crop was
reported destroyed. Forty-nine houses were reported destroyed with 347 others
damaged.

Tropical Cyclone Olivia (TC-25S): Tropical Cyclone Olivia formed near
11S 127E on 5 April. Initially moving southwest, the cyclone turned south
later that day. Olivia turned west-southwest on 6 April, and at the end of
the summary period it was continuing this track with 55 kt winds.

Ship C6NP8 reported 40 kt winds and a 1000.0 mb pressure at 0000 UTC 5
April. The next summary will have details on Olivia's strike on Western
Australia.

Special Update on Tropical Cyclone Edwige (Summaries #238 and #239):

The rapidly intensifying Edwige passed about 50 miles north of Mauritius
on 25 February. Port Louis reported an 86 kt gust (exact time unknown). There
are no reports of damage or casualties at this time.

South Pacific Ocean Basin (E of 135 Deg. E): No tropical cyclones.


Disclaimer: While an effort has been made to insure that this information is
as accurate as possible, this is a preliminary and unofficial report drawn
from operational warnings. Thus, it may not always agree with the best track
information published after the storm is over. Please address any questions
or comments on the information this week to Jack Beven at Internet addresses:

jbe...@delphi.com or be...@nhc.noaa.gov

Past text copies of the Tropical Cyclone Weekly Summary can now be obtained
courtesy of the International Weather Watchers at URL:

http://groundhog.sprl.umich.edu/iww/tropics

They are also available by e-mail. Please send an e-mail message to Jack
Beven if you are interested.