1999–2000 South-West Indian Ocean cyclone season
The 1999–2000 South-West Indian Ocean tropical cyclone season was the first on record in which two storms – Leon–Eline and Hudah – struck Mozambique at tropical cyclone intensity, or with maximum sustained winds of at least 120 km/h (75 mph). The most notable storm of the season was Eline, which was the longest-lasting storm on record in the basin. It lasted for 29 days while traversing the southern Indian Ocean, making the strongest landfall in decades along eastern Madagascar in late February. The storm was the first in a series of three storms that struck the country in early 2000, along with Gloria in March and Hudah in April. Collectively, the three storms killed at least 316 people. The season started on November 1, 1999, and ended for most of the basin on April 30, 2000; for Mauritius and the Seychelles, the season continued until May 15. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the basin;
1996–97 South-West Indian Ocean cyclone season
A tropical disturbance developed in late November, and two disturbances formed in the first few weeks of January. In the duration between when Iletta developed on January 23 and when Tropical Cyclone Josie formed on February 9, another two tropical disturbances formed, and the final two developed after Lisette originated in late February. The first, Tropical Disturbance M1, formed on May 11 in the northeastern portion of the basin, and later crossed into the Australian region to intensify into Tropical Cyclone Rhonda. The final disturbance of the season originated from a persistent area of convection near the equator on July 19, northeast of Diego Garcia. With warm enough water temperatures, the system developed further, becoming Tropical Depression M2 on July 20, the first July depression since 1971. That day, the JTWC classified the storm as Tropical Cyclone 01S. As the JTWC considers the tropical cyclone year to begin on July 1, and the MFR considered it beginning on August 1 at the time, the storm was in different cyclone years in different agencies. Estimates from the Dvorak technique suggested that the system approached tropical storm status on July 21 after a central dense overcast formed, although the MFR only estimated peak 10–minute winds of 55 km/h (35 mph). Moving southwestward and later to the west, the depression began weakening due to wind shear on July 23, and dissipated two days later. At the time, July was within the annual tropical cyclone year, although a change in policy shifted the end of the tropical cyclone year to June 30, beginning in 2002.