2018–19 South-West Indian Ocean cyclone season
Period of the cyclone season in the southwest Indian Ocean between 2018 and 2019
The 2018–19 South-West Indian Ocean cyclone season was a record breaking and devastating season that was the most active season ever recorded in the basin. It was the deadliest cyclone season recorded in the South-West Indian Ocean, surpassing the 1891–92 season in which the 1892 Mauritius cyclone devastated the island of Mauritius, and was the costliest South-West Indian Ocean season at the time until it was surpassed by the 2024-25 season. Most of the fatalities and damage came from Cyclone Idai. The season was an event of the annual cycle of tropical cyclone and subtropical cyclone formation in the South-West Indian Ocean basin. It officially began on 15 November 2018, and ended on 30 April 2019, except for Mauritius and the Seychelles, which it ended on 15 May 2019. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical and subtropical cyclones form in the basin, which is west of 90°E and south of the Equator. Tropical and subtropical cyclones in this basin are monitored by the Regional Specialised Meteorological Centre in Réunion.
The season set a new record of nine intense tropical cyclones, the largest number since the start of reliable satellite coverage in 1967, surpassing the 2006–07 season. Beginning the season early, Moderate Tropical Storm 01 formed during September 2018. Two other systems formed prior to the official start of the season during November—the first intense tropical cyclone and the first named storm, Alcide, and Severe Tropical Storm Bouchra.
The public source identifies “2018–19 South-West Indian Ocean cyclone season” as period of the cyclone season in the southwest Indian Ocean between 2018 and 2019. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around South-West, Indian and Ocean.
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Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 12, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q55602618. The first chronological checks are 2018, 1891, 1892 and 2024.
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This entry incorporates text from “2018–19 South-West Indian Ocean cyclone season” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.