Tracking Tropical Cyclone Freddy: NASA's Record-Breaking Journey 🌀🌍

Join us in witnessing the extraordinary journey of Tropical Cyclone Freddy, the longest-lived tropical cyclone on record! 🌀 From Madagascar to Mozambique, Freddy's epic voyage lasted over five weeks, leaving a trail of weather mysteries in its wake. Explore its remarkable path and the scientific insights it uncovered in this captivating NASA data visualization. 🛰️🌊 #TropicalCycloneFreddy #WeatherWonders #NASAData

Video Description:
0:00 Data visualization of the Southern Hemisphere with Australia & Indonesia to the right & “Indian Ocean” labeled on the left & center. Bars at the bottom shows accumulation & precipitation rates for Tropical Cyclone Freddy. The left bar says “NASA IMERG Accumulation since 6 February, 2023," with a scale from dark green (low) to dark purple (very high). The right scale reads “NASA IMERG Precipitation Rate, 3-hour average” & goes from white (very low) to dark blue (medium) & light yellow-green (very high). A small scale shows the storm category ranging from “Depression/Storm” in gray to Category 5 in dark red.

0:01 That description applies throughout. A blue spiral blob, the storm, appears between Indonesia & Northwest Australia.

0:03 Text in the lower left says “voice of George Huffman, Project Scientist, Global Precipitation Measurement Mission, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.” The camera follows Freddy as it leaves a trail of green & purple blobs indicating rain accumulation. The “Freddy” label changes color to match its change in strength.

0:11 A closer framing of the storm viz shows Freddy's origin between Indonesia & Australia.

0:17 The map dissolves to show Freddy increasing in intensity to a Category 5 storm as it nears Madagascar.

0:25 The map dissolves back to wider framing where the long east to west track of Freddy is visible, leaving trails of green & purple rain accumulation data behind.

0:39 The map dissolves to a close-up of Freddy having reached Category 5 headed for the east coast of Madagascar. Freddy crosses the bottom half of Madagascar & heads to Mozambique in eastern Africa where it makes landfall.

0:49 A photo in the bottom right of the screen shows widespread mudslides in Mozambique with trapped vehicles & lots of debris & people walking around in the aftermath.

0:53 Still closer framed, Freddy moves in an irregular loop over Mozambique, with lots of higher rates of rain & accumulation indicated by dark blues & purples.

1:05 Image of a huge cyclonic cloud with an eye that makes landfall on Mozambique. This is from the satellite Meteosat-9 & shows the day * night cycle as Freddy approaches land.

1:10 Back to the IMERG viz of Freddy’s long track across the Indian Ocean. It dissolves to show the end of Freddy over Mozambique with the track & accumulation data behind. Mozambique & Madagascar are covered in purples, dark blues & greens indicating high levels of rain rate & accumulation.

1:17 The same viz shows “Freddy” & clouds fade out, leaving the storm track & accumulation data as the camera slowly zooms.

1:21 The NASA logo, a blue circle with a red stylized arrow & a white orbit path around white letters reading “NASA”

Music: “Enlightenment,” Universal Production Music

Ryan Fitzgibbons (KBRwyle):
Lead Producer
Lead Editor

Aaron E. Lepsch (ADNET):
Technical Support

George Huffman (NASA/GSFC):
Lead Scientist
Lead Narrator

B. Jason West (ADNET):
Lead Visualizer