Market2004 North Indian Ocean cyclone season
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2004 North Indian Ocean cyclone season

The 2004 North Indian Ocean cyclone season was the first in which tropical cyclones were officially named in the basin. Cyclone Onil, which struck India and Pakistan, was named in late September. The final storm, Cyclone Agni, became one of the storms closest to the equator. The season was fairly active, with ten depressions forming from May to November. The India Meteorological Department designated four of these as cyclonic storms, which have maximum sustained winds of at least 65 km/h (40 mph) averaged over three minutes. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center also issued warnings for five of the storms on an unofficial basis.

Season summary
ImageSize = width:781 height:191 PlotArea = top:10 bottom:80 right:50 left:20 Legend = columns:3 left:30 top:58 columnwidth:270 AlignBars = early DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/05/2013 till:01/01/2014 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMinor = grid:black unit:month increment:1 start:01/05/2013 Colors = id:canvas value:gray(0.88) id:GP value:red id:TD value:rgb(0,0.52,0.84) legend:Depression_(31–50_km/h) id:DD value:rgb(0.43,0.76,0.92) legend:Deep_Depression_(51–62_km/h) id:TS value:rgb(0.3,1,1) legend:Cyclonic_Storm_(63–88_km/h) id:ST value:rgb(0.75,1,0.75) legend:Severe_Cyclonic_Storm_(89–117_km/h) id:VS value:rgb(1,0.85,0.55) legend:Very_Severe_Cyclonic_Storm_(118–165_km/h) id:ES value:rgb(1,0.45,0.54) legend:Extremely_Severe_Cyclonic_Storm_(166–220_km/h) id:SU value:rgb(0.55,0.46,0.9) legend:Super_Cyclonic_Storm_(≥221_km/h) Backgroundcolors = canvas:canvas BarData = barset:Hurricane bar:Month PlotData= barset:Hurricane width:10 align:left fontsize:S shift:(4,-4) anchor:till from:05/05/2013 till:10/05/2013 color:ST text:"ARB 01 (SCS)" from:16/05/2013 till:19/05/2013 color:ES text:"BOB 01 (ES)" from:10/06/2013 till:13/06/2013 color:DD text:"ARB 02 (DD)" from:11/06/2013 till:14/06/2013 color:DD text:"BOB 02 (DD)" from:12/09/2013 till:15/09/2013 color:TD text:"Land 01 (D)" from:30/09/2013 till:03/10/2013 color:ST text:"Onil (SCS)" barset:break from:02/10/2013 till:04/10/2013 color:TD text:BOB 03 from:07/10/2013 till:08/10/2013 color:TD text:"Land 02 (D)" from:02/11/2013 till:07/11/2013 color:DD text:"ARB 04 (DD)" from:29/11/2013 till:02/12/2013 color:ST text:"Agni (SCS)" bar:Month width:5 align:center fontsize:S shift:(0,-20) anchor:middle color:canvas from:01/05/2013 till:31/05/2013 text:May from:01/06/2013 till:30/06/2013 text:June from:01/07/2013 till:31/07/2013 text:July from:01/08/2013 till:31/08/2013 text:August from:01/09/2013 till:30/09/2013 text:September from:01/10/2013 till:31/10/2013 text:October from:01/11/2013 till:30/11/2013 text:November from:01/12/2013 till:31/12/2013 text:December The India Meteorological Department (IMD) was designated a Regional Specialized Meteorological Center by the World Meteorological Organization in July 1988 to monitor and warn on tropical cyclones in the northern Indian Ocean. The basin is defined between 45° and 100° E, and north of the equator. The agency also used geostationary satellites and a network of buoys to track the storms, and utilized various tropical cyclone forecast models to predict future tracks. Twin depressions formed during June on opposite sides of India, which helped intensify the monsoon over the country. A notable feature of the season was the Arabian Sea being more active than the Bay of Bengal. The IMD began naming tropical cyclones within the basin in 2004, beginning after the monsoon season. As such, only two cyclonic storms in the latter half of the year were named. == Systems ==
Systems
Severe Cyclonic Storm ARB 01 Toward the end of April, an area of convection persisted in the southern Bay of Bengal. It developed into a distinct low-pressure area on May 1 over the body of water, but soon moved westward into India without developing. On May 4, the system emerged from Kerala into the Arabian Sea, and soon after convection rapidly increased. Early on May 5, the JTWC classified the system as Tropical Cyclone 01A about 370 km (230 mi) west-southwest of Kochi, India. Increased wind shear, cooler waters, and dry air rapidly weakened the convection, exposing the center and causing the storm to deteriorate quickly into a depression. On May 10, the system degenerated into a remnant low off Gujarat, without any discernible low-level circulation. While an active tropical cyclone, the storm dropped torrential rainfall to the Lakshadweep group offshore western India. Aminidivi recorded over three days, including in just 24 hours. The high rains cut communications from the island group to the mainland, and damaged 45 houses in conjunction with the winds. High waves sank 15 boats and one cargo ship while also causing erosion in Kerala. The storm killed nine people and caused ₹300 million rupees ($6.7 million USD). Despite the storm's ferocity, the government did not report about the cyclone for ten days, as they usually under report on landfalling storms. The cyclone caused heavy damage throughout Rakhine State, destroying or heavily damaging 4,035 homes and leaving 25,000 people homeless. There was widespread crop damage, resulting in food shortages, and damaged roads disrupted subsequent relief efforts. Damage in Myanmar totaled over K621 million kyat (US$99.2 million), making it the worst storm in the country since 1968, and there were 236 deaths. Although damage was heaviest in Myanmar, the cyclone's effects also spread into neighboring Bangladesh, where strong winds knocked over trees and capsized two ships. Strong wind shear caused the depression to weaken, and the IMD downgraded it to a remnant low on June 13. On September 10, a low-pressure area developed within the monsoon trough in the extreme northern Bay of Bengal. Moving northwestward, it organized into a depression after it moved ashore, organizing over West Bengal near Kolkata. The system attained peak winds of despite being over land. Located within a col, or weakness between ridges, the depression meandered over eastern India, weakening into a remnant low on September 15. Flash flooding in the Indian state of Tripura killed four people and isolated about 55,000 people. Three people died in West Bengal, where floodwaters left about 650,000 people homeless in hundreds of villages. Flash flooding in Uttar Pradesh killed 33 people overnight on September 21. Cyclone Onil quickly attained its peak intensity on October 2 with winds of and a barometric pressure of 990 mbar (hPa; ). However, dry air quickly entered the system, causing it to rapidly weaken to a depression just off the coast of Gujarat, India. Over the following several days, the system took a slow, erratic track towards the south-southeast. After turning northeastward, the system made landfall near Porbandar on October 10 and dissipated shortly thereafter. Throughout southeastern Pakistan and northwestern India, thousands of residents were evacuated prior to the cyclone's arrival. In these areas, the storm produced moderate to heavy rainfall, peaking at in Thatta, Sindh, Pakistan. The drainage system of Hyderabad sustained significant damage, leading to several protests and demonstrations by city residents. Offshore, 300 fishermen are believed to have gone missing during the storm. Depression BOB 03/04 A low-pressure area formed in the Bay of Bengal on September 30 and gradually became more organized. It moved northwestward and developed into a depression on October 2. Without intensifying beyond winds of , the depression moved ashore Andhra Pradesh near Kalingapatnam on October 4. It rapidly weakened into a remnant low and turned to the northeast. On October 7, the system re-intensified into a depression near Bankura despite being over land, aided by moisture from the Bay of Bengal. Flash flooding caused landslides in Kamrup, while regional and national roads were damaged or submerged. Over 15,000 people were forced to evacuate their homes to emergency shelters. Across the region, of crops were damaged, and a low-pressure area developed on November 1 in the southeastern Arabian Sea. The following day, a depression formed off the southwest coast of India. The disturbance tracked westward, weakening after passing south of Sri Lanka. On November 28, the JTWC classified it as Tropical Cyclone 05A, just 78 km (48 mi) from the equator. The IMD classified it as a depression the next day at 1.5° N, noting that "cyclogenesis ... at such low latitudes has not occurred in the past." After developing, the system moved northwestward due to a ridge over India. The IMD upgraded the depression to Cyclonic Storm Agni late on November 29 and further to a severe cyclonic storm the next day. The JTWC also upgraded Agni to the equivalent of a minimal hurricane, estimating peak 1 minute winds of . Wind shear and dry air caused the storm to weaken. After Agni turned westward, the IMD downgraded it to a depression and later remnant low on December 2, although the JTWC tracked it for another day, issuing their final advisory while Agni was about 450 km (275 mi) south-southeast of Cape Guardafui—the easternmost point of the Horn of Africa. The remnants moved ashore at eastern Somalia, before turning to the south and dissipating on December 5. == Season effects ==
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