1999 North Indian Ocean cyclone season

IMD India Meteorological Department The India Meteorological Department , also referred to as the Met Office, is an agency of the Ministry of Earth Sciences of the Government of India. It is the principal agency responsible for meteorological observations, weather forecasting and seismology... Tropical Cyclone Strength Classification
Category	Wind speed (3-min)
	Knots (km/h)

Depression	≤27 (≤51)
Deep Depression	28–33 (52–61)
Cyclonic Storm	34–47 (62–87)
Severe Cyclonic Storm	48–63 (88–117)
Very Severe Cyclonic Storm	64–119 (118–221)
Super Cyclonic Storm	≥120 (≥222)

The 1999 North Indian Ocean cyclone season was an event in the annual cycle of tropical cyclone

Tropical cyclone

A tropical cyclone is a storm system characterized by a large low-pressure center and numerous thunderstorms that produce strong winds and heavy rain. Tropical cyclones strengthen when water evaporated from the ocean is released as the saturated air rises, resulting in condensation of water vapor...

formation. The North Indian Ocean cyclone season has no official bounds, but cyclones tend to form between April and December, with peaks in May and November. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the northern Indian Ocean

Indian Ocean

The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...

.

The scope of this article is limited to the Indian Ocean in the Northern Hemisphere

Northern Hemisphere

The Northern Hemisphere is the half of a planet that is north of its equator—the word hemisphere literally means “half sphere”. It is also that half of the celestial sphere north of the celestial equator...

, east of the Horn of Africa

Horn of Africa

The Horn of Africa is a peninsula in East Africa that juts hundreds of kilometers into the Arabian Sea and lies along the southern side of the Gulf of Aden. It is the easternmost projection of the African continent...

and west of the Malay Peninsula

Malay Peninsula

The Malay Peninsula or Thai-Malay Peninsula is a peninsula in Southeast Asia. The land mass runs approximately north-south and, at its terminus, is the southern-most point of the Asian mainland...

. There are two main sea

Sea

A sea generally refers to a large body of salt water, but the term is used in other contexts as well. Most commonly, it means a large expanse of saline water connected with an ocean, and is commonly used as a synonym for ocean...

s in the North Indian Ocean - the Arabian Sea

Arabian Sea

The Arabian Sea is a region of the Indian Ocean bounded on the east by India, on the north by Pakistan and Iran, on the west by the Arabian Peninsula, on the south, approximately, by a line between Cape Guardafui in northeastern Somalia and Kanyakumari in India...

to the west of the Indian subcontinent

Indian subcontinent

The Indian subcontinent, also Indian Subcontinent, Indo-Pak Subcontinent or South Asian Subcontinent is a region of the Asian continent on the Indian tectonic plate from the Hindu Kush or Hindu Koh, Himalayas and including the Kuen Lun and Karakoram ranges, forming a land mass which extends...

, abbreviated ARB by the India Meteorological Department

India Meteorological Department

The India Meteorological Department , also referred to as the Met Office, is an agency of the Ministry of Earth Sciences of the Government of India. It is the principal agency responsible for meteorological observations, weather forecasting and seismology...

(IMD); and the Bay of Bengal

Bay of Bengal

The Bay of Bengal , the largest bay in the world, forms the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean. It resembles a triangle in shape, and is bordered mostly by the Eastern Coast of India, southern coast of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka to the west and Burma and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands to the...

to the east, abbreviated BOB by the IMD.

The official Regional Specialized Meteorological Centre

Regional Specialized Meteorological Centre

A Regional Specialized Meteorological Centre is responsible for the distribution of information, advisories, and warnings regarding the specific program they have a part of, agreed by consensus at the World Meteorological Organization as part of the World Weather Watch.-Tropical...

in this basin is the India Meteorological Department

India Meteorological Department

(IMD), while the Joint Typhoon Warning Center

Joint Typhoon Warning Center

The Joint Typhoon Warning Center is a joint United States Navy – United States Air Force task force located at the Naval Maritime Forecast Center in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii...

releases unofficial advisories. The tropical cyclone scale

Tropical cyclone scales

Tropical systems are officially ranked on one of several tropical cyclone scales according to their maximum sustained winds and in what oceanic basin they are located...

for this basin is detailed on the right. On average, 4 to 6 storms form in this basin every season.

The season produced an average number of storms but there was an above average number of intense cyclones. In May, a Category 3 cyclone struck Pakistan, leaving at 700 people dead or missing. In October, two very intense cyclones struck eastern India within two weeks of each other, leaving over 10,000 people dead and causing more than $4.5 billion (1999 USD

United States dollar

The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....

) in damages.

Storms

Five tropical cyclones were observed, making 1999 an average season. However, 4 reached Cyclone strength.

Cyclonic Storm BOB 01

On January 30, an area of disturbed weather began to develop. Convection began to form around the center and a Tropical Cyclone Formation Alert was issued the next day by the JTWC. Development of the storm stalled and the alert was cancelled. The next day, another TCFA was issued but was once more cancelled. Finally, on February 2, after the third TCFA was issued, the low pressure area developed into a tropical storm at 0900Z 370 nm

Nautical mile

The nautical mile is a unit of length that is about one minute of arc of latitude along any meridian, but is approximately one minute of arc of longitude only at the equator...

west of Phuket, Thailand. The storm slowly intensified and reached its peak of 45 mph (1-min) on February 3. Shortly after peaking in intensity, vertical wind shear weakened the storm and the low became exposed by 1800Z the same day. The storm later dissipated on February 5 without making landfall.

Very Severe Cyclonic Storm ARB 01 (02A)

An area of disturbed weather in the Arabian Sea

Arabian Sea

was monitored in early May for possible development. Over the next two weeks, strong convection would develop before sunrise but dissipate by sunset. By May 16, the convection had become constant and a TCFA was issued at 0100Z. The low became a tropical storm by 0900Z. Tropical Storm 02A intensified as it moved to the northwest and reached cyclone status on May 17 at 0600Z. At that time, a mid-latitude trough weakened the subtropical ridge, allowing 02A to curve into Pakistan

Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

. 02A continued to intensify and by May 19, it had reached its peak of 125 mph (205 km/h), just below Category four status on the SSHS. 02A made landfall on May 20 near Karachi, Pakistan at peak intensity. The storm began to dissipate as it continued inland over the Indus River Valley on May 21 and completely dissipated the next day.

The cyclone struck the same area which had been hit hard by Tropical Cyclone 03A, a category three as well, almost exactly a year prior. It proved to be very deadly with 700 people reported to be dead or missing. Damages totaled to $6 million (1999 USD).

02A was the strongest storm to ever form in the Arabian Sea until 2001, when cyclone 01A became the strongest storm to form in the Arabian Sea. It was itself surpassed in 2007 when Cyclone Gonu

Cyclone Gonu

Cyclone Gonu is the strongest tropical cyclone on record in the Arabian Sea, and is also the strongest named cyclone in the northern Indian Ocean...

became the first category five to form in the Arabian Sea.

Tropical Storm 03B

On June 8, an area of low pressure formed 235 nm south of Chittagong, Bangladesh. The low slowly developed over the next two days while drifting to the west and northwest. On June 10, a TCFA was issued at 0830Z and the first warning on Tropical Storm 03B was issued at 1500Z the same day. The storm made landfall as a minimal tropical storm to the west of Calcutta, India later that day. 03B rapidly weakened due to vertical wind shear and the interaction with land and dissipated on June 11. No fatalities or damages have been associated with 03B.

Deep Depression BOB 02

A weak depression existed on June 17 before it made landfall near Berhampur. The depression was monitored by the IMD, not the JTWC.

Deep Depression BOB 03

A depression formed on July 27, strengthened slightly before moving inland into the Orissa state on July 28. The depression was monitored by the IMD, not the JTWC.

Depression BOB 04

A depression formed in the northern Bay of Bengal on August 6 and moved inland into the Orissa state the next day. It was dissipated by August 8. The depression was monitored by the IMD, not the JTWC.

Very Severe Cyclonic Storm BOB 05 (04B)

On October 15, a developing area of low pressure, located 220 nm northwest of the Andaman Islands

Andaman Islands

The Andaman Islands are a group of Indian Ocean archipelagic islands in the Bay of Bengal between India to the west, and Burma , to the north and east...

began to intensify. By 1730Z a TCFA was issued and the first advisory on Tropical Storm 04B was issued at 2100Z. 04B was moving to the west-northwest at 8-12 knots as it continued to intensify. On October 17, the storm began to turn to a more northerly direction as it intensified to a cyclone. 04B underwent explosive intensification the same day and reached its peak of 140 mph at 0000Z. The storm held this intensity as it made landfall on the Orissa coastline. The storm began to weaken due to the interaction with land and dissipated on October 19.

04B was responsible for at least 80 fatalities and hundreds of houses and huts in low lying areas were destroyed by flooding. Several thousand others were injured by the storm and hundreds were left homeless. The Prime Minister of India requested that relief supplies be distributed to the affected region immediately.

Super Cyclonic Storm BOB 06 (05B)

On October 23, a TCFA was issued for an area of low pressure in the South China Sea

South China Sea

The South China Sea is a marginal sea that is part of the Pacific Ocean, encompassing an area from the Singapore and Malacca Straits to the Strait of Taiwan of around...

. The low did not develop further and the TCFA was cancelled. On October 25, the low crossed the Malay Peninsula. Later that day, the low reorganized and another TCFA was issued at 1930Z. The low was upgraded to Tropical Storm 05B the next day ay 0300Z. The storm tracked to the northwest and continued to intensify quickly. 05B began to intensify faster than the climatological rate and peaked as a 160 mph category five on October 28 at 1800Z. 11 hours after peaking, 05B weakened slightly to 155 mph and made landfall near the same area that 04B did only 11 days earlier. The storm slowly weakened as it stalled just onshore in Orissa, India while dumping torrential rains. The storm reentered the Bay of Bengal on October 31 as a 45 mph tropical storm. 05B slowly weakened as it drifted southward. 05B weakened to a tropical depression on November 2 and dissipated the next day.

Damage from the cyclone was tremendous. Flooding from the storms rain was described as the worst in 100 years as well as the worst in India's history. The storm claimed the lives of at least 15,000 people and 406,000 livestock. Damages from the storm totaled to $4.5 billion (1999 USD).

Depression BOB 07

A Tropical Depression formed in the Bay of Bengal on December 8. The depression was monitored by the IMD, not the JTWC. The depression remained out over open waters before dissipating on December 10.

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