Tropical Cyclone Gombe was a strong tropical cyclone that affected Mozambique. It became the first storm to make a major landfall in Nampula Province in Mozambique since Cyclone Jokwe in 2008. The eighth tropical storm, fourth tropical cyclone and fourth intense tropical cyclone of the 2021–22 South-West Indian Ocean cyclone season, Gombe originated from a tropical disturbance located off the coast of Madagascar. This area of convection was designated by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center as Invest 97S on 6 March. The next day, it began to slowly move westward and executed a loop as it became more organized, which prompted Météo-France Reunion (MFR) to note the system as Zone of Disturbed Weather 09. The system became a depression on 9 March, and became a moderate tropical storm the same day. Soon after being named, Gombe made landfall in Madagascar, and entered in the Mozambique Channel the next day. The storm continued its westward motion while slowly intensifying, and was upgraded to a Tropical Cyclone by the MFR on 10 March. Closing in on Nampula Province, the storm underwent rapid intensification, and was upgraded to the fourth Intense Tropical Cyclone of the year and reached its peak intensity on 11 march, with maximum 10-minute sustained winds of 165 km/h (105 mph), maximum 1-minute sustained winds of 185 km/h (115 mph), and a minimum central pressure of 960 hectopascals (28 inHg). The storm proceeded to make landfall, and quickly lost its convection over land. On 12 March, Gombe degenerated into a remnant low overland. However, the system subsequently turned southeastward and reemerged over water, before briefly regenerating into a tropical depression on 17 March. Gombe dissipated later that day.

Cyclone Gombe killed 72 people across three countries: 63 in Mozambique, 7 in Malawi, and 2 in Madagascar. Tens of thousands of homes were heavily damaged by the storm in Mozambique, and left hundreds of thousands of families without power across Nampula. Gombe affected thousands of hectares of crops, dropped 200 mm (7.9 in) of rain in 24 hours. The Island of Mozambique also experienced some damage from the storm.

Cyclone Gombe originated from a zone of disturbed weather that the Météo-France on Réunion (MFR) noted on 6 March, located about 280 nmi (320 mi; 520 km) from Mauritius, moving northeast slowly.^[1] The system organized its circulation and became active convectively, which prompted the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) to designate the system as Invest 97S hours later, and at 11:40 UTC, issued a Tropical Cyclone Formation Alert (TCFA), noting warm sea surface temperatures of 28–29 °C (82–84 °F) along with low wind shear.^[2] As it executed a counterclockwise loop, the MFR upgraded the storm to a tropical depression at noon on 7 March, and upgraded it to a moderate tropical storm; the Mauritius Meteorological Services named it Gombe. ^{[nb 1]}The JTWC followed suit, and classified it as Tropical Cyclone 19S at 18:00 UTC that day.^[4][5]

On 8 March, Gombe made landfall in the Sava Region of Madagascar, and the MFR downgraded the system to an overland depression at 06:00 UTC while it crossed the country,^[6] and the JTWC downgraded it to a tropical depression as well.^[7] 24 hours later, the system reached the Mozambique Channel, moving westward at 7 knots (13 km/h; 8.1 mph), and the MFR upgraded it back to a tropical storm at 06:00 UTC on 9 March, with 10-minute sustained winds of 45 knots (83 km/h; 52 mph).^[8] Gombe, driven by a subtropical ridge south of the Channel, continued to move westward, and the MFR observed an improved cloud pattern, upgrading it to a Tropical Cyclone at 06:00 UTC on 10 March, estimating maximum 10-minute sustained winds of 65 knots (120 km/h; 75 mph).^[9] Gombe then began a period rapid intensification, and the MFR upgraded the storm to Intense Tropical Cyclone, with peak 10-minute sustained winds of 90 knots (170 km/h; 100 mph), and a minimum central pressure of 960 hPa (28.34 inHg) midnight on 11 March.^[10] At the same time, the JTWC estimated peak 1-minute sustained winds of 100 knots (190 km/h; 120 mph), which made it a Category 3 cyclone on the Saffir-Simpson scale - the storm strengthened approximately 35 knots (65 km/h; 40 mph) within 18 hours.^[11]

The storm made landfall in Nampula Province of Mozambique, the first major cyclone to do so since Cyclone Jokwe of 2008, and subsequently weakened significantly.^[12] The MFR downgraded the storm to an Overland Depression for the second time on 06:00 UTC the same day, with the JTWC tagging the system as a high-end Category 1-equivalent.^[13][14] The storm continued to move inland into Mozambique, and the MFR issued their last advisory on Gombe a day later, and the JTWC issued their final advisory at 18:00 UTC on 12 March.^[15][16] In the advisory released on 17 March by the MFR, what was left of Gombe reorganized itself into a tropical depression as its entered Mozambique channel. However, later that same day, the MFR issued their final advisory on Gombe.^[17]

• Weather of 2022
• Tropical cyclones in 2022
• List of South-West Indian Ocean intense tropical cyclones
• Cyclone Jokwe - Affected the same area in Mozambique with a similar intensity
• Cyclone Idai – the second deadliest tropical cyclone recorded In the Southern Hemisphere
• Cyclone Eloise
• Tropical Storm Ana (2022) - Had a similar track to Gombe