India, Feb. 25 -- A tropical cyclone - Horacio - quickly became the most prominent weather system of 2026 this week, strengthening rapidly over the southwest Indian Ocean east of Mauritius and near Rodrigues before beginning to weaken over open water.

According to Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC)-based reporting summarised by the Pacific Disaster Center (PDC), Horacio reached 140 knots in warning number 9 (about 160 mph / 260 km/h on a 1-minute sustained basis), placing it squarely in Category 5-equivalent territory on the Saffir-Simpson scale, reported cdtnews.com.

-According to the last JTWC warning seen on the website of PDC, Horacio was listed at 95 knots with gusts to 115 knots, located approximately 510 NM southeast of Port Lou...