The Indian Ocean is where the tropical storm action is this weekend.
Tropical cyclone 'Cela' has been around in the southwest of the ocean for over a week. The storm passed over northern Madagascar, bringing some heavy rain and is now moseying around in the Mozambique Channel. The far north and south of Madagascar are now dry and bright but central areas have got more cloud and showers associated with the tropical system to the west. Northern Mozambique also is more cloudy with more showers. The path of 'Cela' is southwards but may curve back towards western Madagascar by the 16th, and it is still drawing a little energy from the warm waters of the Channel.

Further north in the southern reaches of the Bay of Bengal is Cyclone '03B'. Cyclones near southern Asia do not receive personal names. High cloud is already across Andhra Pradesh, Pondicherry and northern Tamil Nadu, all along the southeast coast of India. The path of '03B' is northwesterly and is forecast to make landfall on the 17th. The cyclone will strengthen over the next few days but weaken slightly before hitting northern Andhra Pradesh midweek.

Hurricane season is over now in the Atlantic, even if it did end late with Tropical Storm 'Peter'. However, there has been some very heavy rain in Central America and the Caribbean.
Grenada includes some of the southern most Windward Islands and known as the Isle of Spice. There has been very heavy rain this weekend. Flooding damaged many homes, carrying away cars and buses. The islands' government declared a disaster area, although the heaviest rain has now past. Grenada's wet season runs from June to December.

There has also been heavy rain in Costa Rica. Over two thousand peoples were evacuated from the Caribbean side of the country. Bridges and roads were wiped out in the flooding. A state of emergency has been declared with the town of Matina being worst hit.

By comparison, in the Middle East, King Abdullah II has urged the citizens of Jordan to pray for rain. With long dry spells in the mostly desert country, a little wet weather will be well received.

Weather News from the last five days:
13/12/2003
12/12/2003
11/12/2003
10/12/2003
09/12/2003

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