Tropical storm Eloise: what we know so far

AFTER making landfall in Madagascar on Tuesday evening and wreaking havoc as she made her way across the northern part of the island, Eloise has gained the attention of South Africans who wait in anticipation to see if parts of the country will be affected.

As with all tropical storm systems, Eloise lost much of her power after hitting the landmass of Madagascar and made her way across the island as an overland depression.

ALSO READ: Tropical storm Eloise en route to Mozambique

She has now made her way into the Mozambican Channel where, as the warm waters of the Indian Ocean are her life source, she is expected to intensify to that of intense tropical cyclone status before making landfall in Mozambique on Saturday.

Tropical storms and tropical cyclones are notoriously difficult to track as their path is very erratic. It is for this reason that the experts cannot predict her point of impact too far in advance.

As of this (Thursday) morning, Eloise’s path has changed slightly to the north and she is expected to make landfall just south of Beira in Mozambique.

She will weaken into an overland depression and continue to track southwest into the southern parts of Zimbabwe early on Sunday morning and eventually the northern parts of Limpopo around Musina Sunday afternoon.

Although at this stage of her journey, meteorologists are expecting this path to change further.

Average 10 min winds – 85 km/h

Maximum estimated gusts – 120 km/h

Centre pressure – 990 hPa

Movement – 19 km/h West South West