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;
2003–04 South-West Indian Ocean cyclone season
On September 28, the first tropical disturbance of the season originated as a circulation within the near-equatorial trough, west of the Chagos Archipelago. Despite moderate wind shear and minimal convection at first, the system developed an organized area of thunderstorms over the center. The swirl was influenced by the trade winds, moving westward at first before turning to the east. The MFR upgraded the system to a tropical depression on September 29, and on the same day, the JTWC initiated advisories on the storm as Tropical Cyclone 01S. The circulation became exposed from the convection before developing another plume of thunderstorms on October 1. That day, the MFR upgraded the depression to Moderate Tropical Storm Abaimba, estimating peak winds of 80 km/h (50 mph), similar to the JTWC estimate. At the low latitude of 4.4º S, Abaimba became the first named storm in the basin north of 5º S. Wind shear increased late on October 1, leaving the center exposed again. On the next day, Abaimba weakened into a tropical depression. The trajectory shifted to the south and west as it moved in a broad loop, until stalling on October 4. That day, it was no longer classifiable as a tropical disturbance, and the circulation dissipated on October 6.