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

1997 - Tropical Storm Lisette moved ashore Mozambique, causing floods that killed 87 people.
2003 - Cyclone Japhet struck southern Mozambique; the cyclone killed 25 people in southeastern Africa.
2005 - Cyclone Percy (pictured) reached its peak intensity with a central pressure of 900 hPa (mbar) near Palmerston Island, one of the Cook Islands in the Pacific Ocean.

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

2004 - Cyclone Gafilo (pictured) made landfall in Madagascar near Antalaha near its peak intensity of 895 hPa (mbar), a South-West Indian Ocean record low. Gafilo killed 363 people on the island and left US$250 million in damage.
2017 - Cyclone Enawo struck northeastern Madagascar and moved southward through the island; it killed 78 people.

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

2010 - Tropical Storm Anita reaches peak intensity with winds of 85 km/h (50 mph) and a minimum pressure of 995 hPa over in the South Atlantic basin.
2015 - Four simultaneously active storms: (left to right) Cyclones Olwyn, Nathan and Pam over in the Southern Hemisphere affecting land masses, and Tropical Storm Bavi just being formed in the Northern Hemisphere. (pictured)

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.

March 16

1981 - Cyclone Max reached its peak intensity with a central pressure of 960 hPa (mbar). Max had earlier passed directly over Darwin, the first cyclone to directly affect the city since Cyclone Tracy.
2018 - Tropical Storm Eliakim (pictured) moved ashore eastern Madagascar, producing heavy rainfall that killed 21 people.

March 17

1997 - Cyclone Justin reached peak intensity while meandering southeast of Papua New Guinea; its heavy rainfall killed 34 people.
2012 - Cyclone Lua (pictured) made landfall in Western Australia, closing oil fields and causing heavy flooding damage.

March 18

1997 - Cyclone Hina (pictured) reached Category 3 severe tropical cyclone strength after it damaged US$15.2 million in Tuvalu and Tonga.
2005 - Tropical Storm Hennie passed east of Mauritius, causing over 200 mm (7.9 in) of rain over the island.

March 19

1982 - Tropical Storm Mamie (pictured) moved through the Philippines, where it killed 117 people.

March 20

2006 - Cyclone Larry (pictured) made landfall near Innisfail, Queensland as a Category 5 cyclone, causing about AU$1.4 billion (US$1 billion) worth of damage.

March 21

2015 - Cyclone Nathan (pictured) made landfall north of Cairns in Cape York Peninsula, Australia with major damages.

March 22

1984 - Cyclone Kathy (pictured) made landfall near Borroloola, Northern Territory, causing $12 million worth of damage.
1999 - Cyclone Vance moved ashore Western Australia, producing a wind gust of 267 km/h (166 mph) at Learmonth, one of the highest ever recorded in the country.

March 23

2014 - Cyclone Gillian (pictured) strengthened into a Category 5 cyclone intensity with 205 km/h (125 mph) 10-minute winds. It disrupted the search for the lost Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.

March 24

1985 - Cyclone Sandy struck Northern Territory, causing widespread flooding.
1994 - Cyclone Nadia (pictured) moved ashore Mozambique and later drifted through the country; Nadia killed 252 people along its path.

March 25

1979 - Cyclone Meli (pictured) struck Fiji, killing 50 people.

March 26

1935 - An tropical cyclone made landfall near Broome, Western Australia, killing 141 people.
2004 - Cyclone Oscar (pictured) reached peak strength of 10-minute sustained winds of 165 km/h (105 mph).

March 27

2004 - Cyclone Fay (pictured) made landfall over in Pilbara, Western Australia as a Category 4 cyclone.

March 28

2004 - Hurricane Catarina (pictured) made landfall on the southern coastline of Brazil, becoming the only known hurricane-strength tropical cyclone to ever hit the South American country. Catarina killed at least three people and caused locally heavy damage.
2017 - Cyclone Debbie made landfall over in Queensland as a Category 4 severe tropical cyclone, causing 14 deaths and US$2.73 billion in damage.

March 29

1989 - Cyclone Ned (pictured) reached its peak intensity with 185 km/h (115 mph) winds off the Western Australian coast.
1992 - Tropical Storm Hali reached its peak strength near the equator over in the Central Pacific with 85 km/h (50 mph) winds.

March 30

1993 - Cyclone Prema moved through Vanuatu and brushed New Caledonia, causing three deaths.
2006 - Cyclone Glenda made landfall as a Category 3 cyclone near Onslow, Western Australia.
2014 - Cyclone Hellen (pictured) became the strongest tropical cyclone on record in the Mozambique Channel, with 10 minute winds of 230 km/h (145 mph). Hellen caused flooding in the Comoros and Madagascar, killing eight people.

March 31

2015 - Typhoon Maysak (pictured) attained its peak intensity with winds of 260 km/h (160 mph), becoming the strongest pre-April tropical cyclone on record in the Northwestern Pacific ocean.