List of South-West Indian Ocean very intense tropical cyclones

Satellite image of Cyclone Gafilo nearing Madagascar as one of the most intense tropical cyclones in the South-West Indian Ocean

In the South-West Indian Ocean, Météo-France's La Réunion tropical cyclone centre (MFR, RSMC La Réunion) monitors all tropical cyclones. A very intense tropical cyclone (VITC) is the highest category on the South-West Indian Ocean Tropical Cyclone scale, and has winds of over 115 knots (212 kilometres per hour, 132 miles per hour).[1] The most recent very intense tropical cyclone was Cyclone Freddy in 2023.

Background

The South-West Indian Ocean tropical cyclone basin is located to the south of the Equator between Africa and 90°E.[2] The basin is officially monitored by Météo-France who run the Regional Specialised Meteorological Centre in La Réunion, while other meteorological services such as the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, Mauritius Meteorological Service as well as the United States Joint Typhoon Warning Center also monitor the basin.[2] Within the basin a very intense tropical cyclone is a tropical cyclone that has 10-minute mean maximum sustained wind speeds of over 115 kn (215 km/h; 130 mph).[2]

Systems

Name	Duration	Peak intensity		Areas affected	Damage (USD)	Deaths	Refs
		Wind speed	Pressure
Lydie	March 6–8, 1973	220 km/h (140 mph)	910 hPa (26.87 inHg)	Réunion	$2 million	10	[3]
Gervaise	February 1 – 10, 1975	280 km/h (175 mph)	951 hPa (28.08 inHg)	Mauritius, Reunion			[4]
Clotilde	January 7 – 21, 1976	250 km/h (155 mph)	980 hPa (28.94 inHg)	None	None	None	[5]
Terry–Danae	January 10 – 29, 1976	260 km/h (160 mph)	955 hPa (28.20 inHg)	None	None	None	[5]
Florine	January 7, 1981	220 km/h (140 mph)	935 hPa (27.61 inHg)	Réunion			[6]
Chris-Damia		240 km/h (150 mph)	920 hPa (27.17 inHg)			[7]
Hudah	April 2, 2000	220 km/h (140 mph)	905 hPa (26.72 inHg)	Madagascar, Mozambique		114	[8][9]
Hary	March 10, 2002	220 km/h (140 mph)	905 hPa (26.72 inHg)	Madagascar, Réunion		4	[10][11]
Gafilo	March 6–7, 2004	230 km/h (145 mph)	895 hPa (26.43 inHg)	Seychelles, Madagascar, Mayotte	$250 million	363	[12][13]
Juliet	April 9–10, 2005	220 km/h (140 mph)	905 hPa (26.72 inHg)	Rodrigues	—	—	[14][15]
Edzani	January 8, 2010	220 km/h (140 mph)	910 hPa (26.87 inHg)	None	None	None	[16]
Bruce	December 20–22, 2013	220 km/h (140 mph)	920 hPa (27.17 inHg)	None	None	None	[17]
Hellen	March 30, 2014	230 km/h (145 mph)	915 hPa (27.02 inHg)	Comoros, Mozambique, Madagascar	≥$1 million	17	[18][19][20][21]
Bansi	January 13, 2015	220 km/h (140 mph)	920 hPa (27.17 inHg)	Rodrigues	—		[22]
Eunice	January 29–30, 2015	230 km/h (145 mph)	915 hPa (27.02 inHg)	None	None	None	[23]
Fantala	April 17–18, 2016	250 km/h (155 mph)	910 hPa (26.87 inHg)	Seychelles, Tanzania	$3.73 million	13	[24][25][26][27]
Ambali	December 6, 2019	220 km/h (140 mph)	930 hPa (27.46 inHg)	None	None	None	[28]
Faraji	February 8–9, 2021	220 km/h (140 mph)	935 hPa (27.61 inHg)	None	None	None	[29]
Habana	March 10, 2021	220 km/h (140 mph)	935 hPa (27.61 inHg)	None	None	None
Darian	December 21, 2022	220 km/h (140 mph)	920 hPa (27.17 inHg)	None	None	None
Freddy	February 19–20, 2023	230 km/h (145 mph)	927 hPa (27.37 inHg)	Mauritius, Réunion, Mascarene Islands, Madagascar, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Malawi	≥$481 million	1,434	[30]

Other systems

The Mauritius Meteorological Service classifies Dina in 2002 as a Very Intense Tropical Cyclone.[31] The Australian Bureau of Meteorology estimates that Severe Tropical Cyclone Daryl–Agnielle 1995 peaked with 10-minute sustained winds of 220 km/h (140 mph), which would make it a Very Intense Tropical Cyclone.[32] However, RSMC La Réunion shows that the system peaked with 10-minute sustained winds of 175 km/h (110 mph) which makes it an Intense Tropical Cyclone.[32]

Climatology

Very intense tropical cyclones by month

Month	Number of storms
January	3
February	3
March	3
April	3
December	2

Very intense tropical cyclones by period

Period	Number of storms
2000s	4
2010s	7
2020s	3

See also

• List of Category 5 Atlantic hurricanes
• List of Category 5 Pacific hurricanes

Notes

References

1. "Tableau de définition des cyclones" (in French). Météo-France. 2008. Archived from the original on January 7, 2013. Retrieved January 14, 2009.
2. RA I Tropical Cyclone Committee (2023). Tropical Cyclone Operational Plan for the South-West Indian Ocean (PDF) (Report). World Meteorological Organization.
3. "Le "club des 500 mm" – Pluies extrêmes à La Réunion". pluiesextremes.meteo.fr. Retrieved 2021-02-08.
4. "Saison 1974-1975 des perturbations tropicales dans l'océan indien du sud-ouest" [1974-1975 Tropical disturbance season in the southwestern Indian Ocean]. Météorologie Maritime (in French). 1976. pp. 40–48. ISSN 0222-5123.
5. "Saison 1975-1976 des perturbations tropicales dans l'océan indien du sud-ouest" [1975-1976 Tropical disturbance season in the southwestern Indian Ocean]. Météorologie Maritime (in French). No. 95. 1977. pp. 44–48. ISSN 0222-5123.
6. http://bibliotheque.meteo.fr/exl-php/docs/ILS_DOC/237214/doc00027049__PDF.txt#page=59 ^[bare URL]
7. http://bibliotheque.meteo.fr/exl-php/docs/ILS_DOC/237207/doc00027042__PDF.txt#page=59 ^[bare URL]
8. "Hudah : 2000-03-24 TO 2000-04-09". Météo-France in La Réunion. Retrieved January 14, 2019.
9. Centre des Cyclones Tropicaux de La Réunion. Saison Cyclonique – Sud-Ouest de l'océan Indien (PDF). La Saison Cyclonique A Madagascar (Report) (in French and English). La Réunion: Météo-France. Retrieved May 25, 2013.
10. "Hary : 2002-03-03 TO 2002-03-17". Météo-France in La Réunion. Retrieved January 14, 2019.
11. 2001–2002 South-West Indian Ocean Cyclone Season (Report). Météo-France. pp. 64–75. Retrieved October 23, 2012.
12. "Gafilo: 2004-03-01 TO 2004-03-18". Météo-France in La Réunion. Retrieved January 14, 2019.
13. Cyclone Season 2003–2004. RSMC La Réunion (Report). Météo-France. Retrieved June 21, 2017.
14. "Juliet : 2005-04-02 TO 2005-04-16". Météo-France in La Réunion. Retrieved January 14, 2019.
15. Agricultural Cost of Production Survey 2005 (PDF) (Report). Republic of Mauritius Central Statistics Office. March 2008. p. 101. Retrieved December 13, 2018.
16. "Edzani : 2010-01-03 TO 2010-01-15". Météo-France in La Réunion. Retrieved January 14, 2019.
17. "Bruce : 2013-12-16 TO 2013-12-25". Météo-France in La Réunion. Retrieved January 14, 2019.
18. "Hellen : 2014-03-26 TO 2014-04-05". Météo-France in La Réunion. Retrieved January 14, 2019.
19. "Mozambique: Four Dead in Torrential Rains in Pemba". Maputo, Mozambique: AllAfrica. March 30, 2014. Retrieved March 31, 2014.
20. "Tropical Depression Hellen overview (as of 1 April 2014)". United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. ReliefWeb. April 1, 2014. Retrieved April 1, 2014.
21. 2014 Annual Global Climate and Catastrophe Report (PDF) (Report). AON Benfield. p. 43. Retrieved January 14, 2019.
22. "Bansi : 2015-01-08 TO 2015-01-19". Météo-France in La Réunion. Retrieved January 14, 2019.
23. "Eunice : 2015-01-24 TO 2015-02-03". Météo-France in La Réunion. Retrieved January 14, 2019.
24. "Fantala : 10/04/2016 TO 26/04/2016". Météo-France in La Réunion. Retrieved January 14, 2019.
25. Athanase, Patsy; Uranie, Sharon (17 May 2016). "$4.5 million in damages from cyclone that hit remote Seychellois island, World Bank says". Victoria, Seychelles. Seychelles News Agency. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
26. "Floods kill seven in N. Tanzania". Philippine News Agency. 26 April 2016.  – via Lexis Nexis (subscription required)
27. "Five killed, over 13,000 left homeless by floods in eastern Tanzania". Philippine News Agency. 28 April 2016.  – via Lexis Nexis (subscription required)
28. "Cyclone 03-20192020". Saison en cours sur le sud-Ouest de l'Océan Indien (in French). Saint-Denis, Réunion: Météo-France La Réunion. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
29. "Cyclone 03-20192020". Saison en cours sur le sud-Ouest de l'Océan Indien (in French). Saint-Denis, Réunion: Météo-France La Réunion. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
30. "Tropical Cyclone Freddy is the longest tropical cyclone on record at 36 days: WMO". World Meteorological Organization. 1 July 2024. Archived from the original on 2 July 2024. Retrieved 2 July 2024.
31. List of Historical Cyclones (Report). Mauritius Meteorological Service. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
32. "1996 Very Intense Tropical Cyclone Daryl:Agnielle (1995319S05092)". International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship. Retrieved May 7, 2020.