2019 North Indian Ocean cyclone season | |
---|---|
Seasonal boundaries | |
First system formed | January 4, 2019 |
Last system dissipated | December 10, 2019 |
Strongest storm | |
Name | Kyarr |
• Maximum winds | 240 km/h (150 mph) (3-minute sustained) |
• Lowest pressure | 922 hPa (mbar) |
Seasonal statistics | |
Depressions | 12 |
Deep depressions | 11 |
Cyclonic storms | 8 |
Severe cyclonic storms | 6 (record high, tied with 2023) |
Very severe cyclonic storms | 6 (record high) |
Extremely severe cyclonic storms | 3 (record high, tied with 1999 and 2023) |
Super cyclonic storms | 1 |
Total fatalities | 185 total |
Total damage | > $11.63 billion (2019 USD) (Third-costliest North Indian Ocean cyclone season on record) |
Related articles | |
The 2019 North Indian Ocean cyclone season was the second most active North Indian Ocean cyclone season on record in terms of cyclonic storms, the 1992 season was more active according to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center. The season featured 12 depressions, 11 deep depressions, 8 cyclonic storms, 6 severe cyclonic storms, 6 very severe cyclonic storms, 3 extremely severe cyclonic storms, and 1 super cyclonic storm, Kyarr, the first since Cyclone Gonu in 2007. Additionally, it also became the third-costliest season recorded in the North Indian Ocean, only behind the 2020 and 2008 seasons.
The season's first named storm, Pabuk, entered the basin on January 4, becoming the earliest-forming cyclonic storm of the North Indian Ocean on record. The second cyclone of the season, Cyclone Fani, at the time was the strongest tropical cyclone in the Bay of Bengal by 3-minute maximum sustained wind speed until it got tied with Cyclone Mocha of 2023, and minimum barometric pressure since the 1999 Odisha cyclone, while being equal in terms of maximum 3-minute sustained wind speed to 2007's Sidr and 2013's Phailin. Further activity occurred in October, and in the latter part of that month, the first and only super cyclonic storm of the 2010s, Kyarr, formed.
The scope of this article is limited to the Indian Ocean in the Northern Hemisphere, east of the Horn of Africa and west of the Malay Peninsula. There are two main seas in the North Indian Ocean — the Arabian Sea to the west of the Indian subcontinent, abbreviated ARB by the India Meteorological Department (IMD); and the Bay of Bengal to the east, abbreviated BOB by the IMD.
The official Regional Specialized Meteorological Centre in this basin is the India Meteorological Department (IMD), while the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) and the National Meteorological Center of CMA (NMC) unofficially release full advisories. On average, three to four cyclonic storms form in this basin every season.[1][2]