With gusts as strong as 350 km/h (215 mph) accompanied by heavy rainfall, Geralda destroyed more than 40,000 homes and left 356,000 people homeless.

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.

Tropical cyclones in this basin are monitored by the Regional Specialised Meteorological Centre in Réunion (MFR),[nb 2] as well as by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC).

[4] During the year, there were neutral El Niño Southern Oscillation conditions, and for several months there was a well-established monsoon trough that extended into the Australian basin.

[6] MFR had an alphabetically prepared list of names for the season, the last seven of which went unused: Pemma, Ronna, Sydna, Telia, Valentina, Williana, and Yvanna.

[15] After initially tracking to the southwest, Cecilia turned to the west on December 15 due to a strengthening ridge to the south, by which time it had restrengthened and developed a central dense overcast.

An approaching trough had caused thunderstorms to reform in the eastern portion of the circulation, which resulted in heavy rainfall over Mauritius and later Réunion.

The high mountains of Madagascar caused the storm to quickly weaken, although it emerged into the Mozambique Channel as a tropical disturbance on January 15.

[4] On February 10, the cyclone attained peak winds of 155 km/h (95 mph), as assessed by MFR,[23] and that day Hollanda struck the island of Mauritius at that intensity.

[4] While moving across the island, Hollanda produced wind gusts of 216 km/h (134 mph) in the capital city of Port Louis, while heavy rainfall reached 711 mm (28.0 in) in Mare aux Vacoas.

[4] Although the JTWC upgraded Ivy to the equivalent of a minimal hurricane on February 12, MFR estimated the storm weakened slightly,[27] due to wind shear obscuring the center.

[24] After passing near Rodrigues, Ivy strengthened further, developing a well-defined eye 50 km (31 mi) in diameter, while turning more to the south due to a trough associated with the remnants of Hollanda.

On February 16, the storm passed about 40 km (25 mi) south of Juan de Nova Island, producing gusts of 75 km/h (47 mph).

[4] The next day, MFR estimated peak winds of about 55 km/h (35 mph);[28] despite that the system did not intensify into a moderate tropical storm, the Meteorological Service of Madagascar named the depression Julita on February 17.

[4] Julita affected areas impacted by earlier cyclones Daisy and Geralda, but caused minimal damage and no deaths.

[17] The Intertropical Convergence Zone spawned an area of convection on March 5 off the northeast coast of Madagascar,[4] which was classified by both JTWC and MFR that day.

[29] A large anticyclone to the east caused the system to track generally to the south, and initially wind shear prevented significant strengthening.

On March 6, the Meteorological Service of Madagascar named the system Kelvina,[4] although the depression did not intensify into a moderate tropical storm until the next day.

After initially moving eastward, a ridge turned it to the west,[30] and on March 7, the system crossed 90° E into the south-west Indian Ocean as a developing tropical depression.

Late on March 9, MFR upgraded Litanne to a tropical cyclone, after the storm developed a small, well-defined eye 20 km (12 mi) in diameter.

[4] With warm sea surface temperatures, Litanne intensified into an intense tropical cyclone by late on March 10, although it subsequently weakened slightly.

Subsequently, the storm turned more to the west, and Litanne restrengthened into an intense tropical cyclone while approaching the eastern coastline of Madagascar.

[31] Weakening slightly after peaking in intensity, Cyclone Litanne continued to the west, making landfall near Brickaville in east-central Madagascar at 1600 UTC on March 15.

On March 17, Litanne emerged from southeastern Madagascar into the Indian Ocean as a tropical depression,[4] and the next day transitioned into an extratropical cyclone after being absorbed by a nearby trough.

[4] The monsoon trough persisted east of the Cocos Islands in early March in the Australian basin, spawning the earlier Cyclone Litanne and the system that would eventually become Mariola.

[30] The JTWC began tracking it on March 7, and MFR followed suit the next day,[32] when the system was located about 2,000 km (1,200 mi) east of Litanne.

[4] Cyclone Nadia formed on March 16 and moved westward for the first ten days of its duration, due to a ridge to the south.

[4] With low wind shear, the storm steadily intensified as it moved to the west,[38] reaching severe tropical cyclone status on April 2 after an eye feature developed.

[38] On April 4, Odille began redeveloping convection and re-intensified into a moderate tropical storm, after entering an area of more favorable conditions.

[39] On April 12, the cyclone passed about 150 km (95 mi) west of Rodrigues, where wind gusts reached 125 km/h (78 mph) at Port Mathurin.