The basin is defined as the area west of 90°E and south of the Equator in the Indian Ocean, which includes the waters around Madagascar westward to the east coast of Africa.

[1] Several hours later, La Réunion reported that the system had intensified into a Moderate Tropical Storm, with the Mauritius Meteorological service naming it Alenga.

[5] On December 7, the cyclone entered an area of strong vertical wind shear causing the low level circulation centre to become exposed.

Later on December 8, convection redeveloped, and wrapped around the low level center, even as the storm continued moving westward, as it slowly weakened.

[citation needed] An area of low pressure located near the southeastern coast of Madagascar, that was previously being tracked by the JTWC as Invest 93S, was designated a subtropical depression by Météo-France, on December 19.

[9] During that day the disturbance gradually developed further which prompted the JTWC to start issuing advisories on the system and designate it as Tropical Cyclone 04S.

Convection increased for a short period of time, but later in the day La Réunion noted that Benilde's northern eyewall had collapsed and the system was weakening after reporting 10-minute sustained peak wind speeds of 150 km/h (95 mph).

[13] Suffering from severe wind shear, the system continued weakening and it became a tropical depression on January 4,[14] while completely absorbing a weak disturbance to the north, late during that day.

Early on January 5, Benilde weakened some more, as its northern structure collapsed completely, and the convection was displaced, to the south of the storm's center as it degenerated into an extratropical cyclone.

It retained subtropical characteristics as it moved towards the African mainland, but by January 15, it reached the equivalent of cyclone strength and was allocated the name Dando by NWS Madagascar.

[18] Heavy rains across southern parts of the country triggered significant flooding, prompting officials to urge residents in flood-prone areas to evacuate.

[20] In Kruger National Park in South Africa hundreds of tourists and locals were left stranded and at least 30 people had to be airlifted after flash floods washed away bridges and damaged numerous buildings and roads in the area.

[21][22] The final death toll from the storm stood at 10, including six in South Africa's Mpumalanga province after heavy rains fueled by its remnants burst the banks of the Olifants River.

Cool sea surface temperatures and not very favorable wind shear made Ethel unable to intensify further, with the system weakening back to a Moderate Tropical Storm on January 22,.

[25] On January 17, RSMC La Réunion started to monitor an area of low pressure that had developed within the Mozambique Channel about 620 km (365 mi) to the northwest of Antananarivo, Madagascar.

During the overnight hours of January 18, a ship carrying 54 people sank on its way from Anjouan to Mayotte amidst rough seas produced by Funso.

Due to land interaction, Funso weakened slightly on January 22–23, but soon reintensified into an intense tropical cyclone as it started heading south.

On January 23, national television in Mozambique announced 12 deaths in the northern Zambezia Province, following the intense cyclone's passage close to land.

Authorities in Malawi were concerned about the fate of more than 450 families that lost their homes in the southern Nsanje District due to the effects of Funso, which mostly affected Bangula and Phokela, as three rivers overflowed.

[35] On January 24, the death toll in Mozambique jumped to at least 25, as government officials were trying to reach the hardest-hit areas in the northern Zambezia province.

On February 9, RSMC La Réunion reported that the disturbance has strengthened into Tropical Depression 09 and was located south-southwest of Diego Garcia.

Early on February 15, Giovanna moved off the western coast of Madagascar and into the Mozambique Channel, as the storm gradually began to reorganize.

On February 18, as Giovanna moved eastwards, along the bottom of Madagascar, the storm was steered into warmer waters, where it strengthened into a Category 2 tropical cyclone again, and developed a small eye.

[37] The exposed remnants were soon pushed further northwestward the next day, due to a Fujiwhara interaction between a stronger system to the east, Moderate Tropical Storm Hilwa.

At 0000 UTC on February 23, Hilwa completed its transition into an extratropical cyclone and the final advisory for the storm was issued several hours later.

With favorable conditions, ample convection was able to wrap around the low level circulation center, which allowed the system to strengthen into a tropical depression, on February 25,.

[43] The system then made a small loop off the coasts of Mozambique and South Africa before starting to head in a northwestern direction towards Madagascar yet again due to weak steering conditions.

[40] Later on March 6, wind shear began taking its toll on the system, and much of the storm's convection in the outer rain band were eroded away.

[citation needed] As the storm turned back towards South Africa, it lost its organization, due to the strong wind shear.

[50] On June 7, dry air, and moderate vertical wind shear caused the system's low level circulation center to become exposed.