File:Tropical Cyclone Halima (MODIS 2022-03-26).jpg

English: Tropical Cyclone Halima formed on March 23, 2022, over the southwestern Indian Ocean east of Mauritius. Under favorable environmental conditions (warm sea surface temperatures and low wind shear), Halima explosively intensified on March 25 to become a Category 4 storm on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale with maximum sustained winds of about 138 mph (222 km/h).

According to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC), by 0300 UTC on March 26 (11:00 p.m. EDT on March 25), the storm’s maximum sustained winds had dropped to 127 mph (204 km/h), bringing it to Category 3 strength. At that time, Tropical Cyclone Halima was located about 569 mi (916 km) south of Diego Garcia and was moving southward. The storm currently sits over cool water upwelling, but will once again move over warmer waters, allowing some strengthening in the next day, but then is expected to encounter stronger vertical wind shear as it moves south. The wind shear will weaken the storm as well as cause it to arc east to northeastward over the following several days as the storm substantially weakens. Fortunately, Halima will travel through open ocean and is not expected to cause hazards to land.

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired a true-color image of Tropical Cyclone Halima on March 25 as the storm was intensifying to become the fourth major storm of this year’s South-West Indian Ocean hurricane season. Halima sported a small cloud-free eye and was a compact storm with moderate convective bands wrapping around the eye. It also appears asymmetric, suggesting some wind shear at the time the image was captured.