An island in the southern Indian Ocean set some still-existing world rainfall records in the last week of February.
From February 28 to 29, 1964, 61 years ago, this week, the Category 1 cyclone Giselle hit the French territory of Réunion, about 450 miles east of Madagascar. But this is not really the wind.
According to weather historian Christopher Burt
-30.16 inches within 6 hours
– 42.79 inches within 9 hours
– 52.76 inches within 12 hours
-66.49 inches in 18.5 hours
This is almost as good as Miami’s annual average (67.41 inches) of rainfall in less than 24 hours.
Also 18 years ago this week, Réunion Island started another record from February 24 to 27, 2007. The Cratère Manderson station had 154.72 inches of rain in 72 hours and 194.33 inches of rain in 96 hours. According to the World Meteorological Organization, the official world record for their respective time ranges remains the official world record.
Réunion’s prolific rainfall is attributed to its lane located in tropical cyclones in the South Indian Ocean and is amplified by its terrain. It has several volcanic peaks, one of which reaches over 10,000 feet.
Réunion’s sharp terrain strongly improves wet winds from slow storms, including tropical cyclones, and enhances rainfall speed.
Reunion Island 1964 Cyclone OTD
Jonathan Erdman is a senior meteorologist at Weather.com and has been covering national and international weather since 1996. Extreme and strange weather are his favorite topics. Contact him Bruceky,,,,, X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook.
