 After maintaining its peak winds for about 18 hours , Geralda weakened slightly while approaching eastern Madagascar . At 0600 UTC on February 2 , MFR estimated the winds were around 175 km / h ( 110 mph ) . At about 1100 UTC that day , the cyclone made landfall just north of Toamasina as an intense tropical cyclone , where a pressure of 943 mbar ( 27 @.@ 8 inHg ) was reported . Officials considered Geralda the strongest storm to hit the country since a cyclone in March 1927 . Geralda weakened rapidly over the mountainous terrain of Madagascar , passing over the capital Antananarivo late on February 2 ; both the JTWC and MFR had downgraded the cyclone to tropical depression status by the next day . About 30 hours after its first landfall , Geralda briefly emerged into the Mozambique Channel late on February 3 . However , a trough soon turned it to the south , and Geralda crossed over western Madagascar , reaching open waters on February 5 . By that time , the winds had decreased to 45 km / h ( 30 mph ) . An approaching polar trough turned Geralda to the southeast on February 6 , and the cyclone became extratropical two days later . MFR continued tracking the remnants of Geralda until February 12 . 
