page_title: 2002–03 South-West Indian Ocean cyclone season
hierarchical_section_title: 2002–03 South-West Indian Ocean cyclone season
caption_attribution_description: English: This map shows the tracks of all tropical cyclones in the 2002-03 South-West Indian Ocean cyclone season. The points show the location of each storm at 6-hour intervals. The colour represents the storm's maximum sustained wind speeds as classified in the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale (see below), and the shape of the data points represent the nature of the storm. Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale Tropical depression&lt;39 mph&lt;63 km/h Category 3111–129 mph178–208 km/h Tropical storm39–73 mph63–117 km/h Category 4130–156 mph209–251 km/h Category 174–95 mph119–153 km/h Category 5&gt;156 mph&gt;251 km/h Category 296–110 mph154–177 km/h Unknown Storm typeTropical cycloneSubtropical cycloneExtratropical cyclone / Remnant low / Tropical disturbance
context_page_description: The 2002–03 South-West Indian Ocean cyclone season was one of the longest lasting and the third-most active season in the South-West Indian Ocean. Storms during the season impacted the Mascarene Islands, Seychelles, Madagascar, and countries in southeastern Africa. The season began early when an unnamed tropical storm struck Seychelles in September, becoming the most damaging storm there in 50 years. The next system, Atang, was the first named storm of the season, but was only a tropical depression; it was named due to the threat to an outer island of Mauritius. Atang later struck Tanzania in a climatologically unusual area in November, resulting in unconfirmed deaths of fishermen. The first named storm to reach tropical storm intensity was Boura, which brushed the Mascarene Islands with gusty winds and rainfall. In December, Cyclone Crystal threatened to strike Mauritius but instead veered eastward, and later, Tropical Storm Delfina lasted from late December through early January 2003. Delfina damaged or destroyed thousands of houses in Mozambique and Malawi, killing 54 people.
context_section_description: The 2002–03 South-West Indian Ocean cyclone season was one of the longest lasting and the third-most active season in the South-West Indian Ocean. Storms during the season impacted the Mascarene Islands, Seychelles, Madagascar, and countries in southeastern Africa. The season began early when an unnamed tropical storm struck Seychelles in September, becoming the most damaging storm there in 50 years. The next system, Atang, was the first named storm of the season, but was only a tropical depression; it was named due to the threat to an outer island of Mauritius. Atang later struck Tanzania in a climatologically unusual area in November, resulting in unconfirmed deaths of fishermen. The first named storm to reach tropical storm intensity was Boura, which brushed the Mascarene Islands with gusty winds and rainfall. In December, Cyclone Crystal threatened to strike Mauritius but instead veered eastward, and later, Tropical Storm Delfina lasted from late December through early January 2003. Delfina damaged or destroyed thousands of houses in Mozambique and Malawi, killing 54 people.
  In January 2003, Severe Tropical Storm Ebula continued the steady activity, forming in the eastern portion of the basin. Later, Tropical Storm Fari crossed southern Madagascar with heavy rains, causing flooding and mudslides that left 3,400 people homeless. In February, there were four simultaneous tropical cyclones in the Indian Ocean, three of which in the basin. Cyclone Gerry formed first and the farthest west, passing just east of Mauritius and killing one person there. Cyclone Hape formed shortly thereafter, and Tropical Storm Isha formed farther east, having originated from the Australian basin. Cyclone Japhet struck southern Mozambique and produced widespread flooding in southeastern Africa, killing 25 people. In March, Cyclone Kalunde was the strongest storm of the season, reaching 10-minute sustained winds of 215 km/h (135 mph). It struck Rodrigues while weakening, damaging 1,600 houses and causing an island-wide power outage. About a month later, a subtropical cyclone named Luma intensified southeast of Madagascar and developed an eye. Lastly, Cyclone Manou was only the sixth May tropical cyclones on record, making a rare landfall in southeastern Madagascar, killing 89 people and destroying thousands of houses.
caption: Season summary map
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