Hurricane History Map

1979 South-West Indian season

15 storms formed in the South-West Indian basin in 1979, from 19 November 1978 to 12 May 1979.

Tap or scroll to load the interactive map

Years1979
Ocean basin

Choosing a minimum category hides storms with no wind speed in the record. To see which storms have passed near you, search a town or ZIP code, or tap the map.

Key
  • Tropical depression Winds below 34 knots (39 mph)
  • Tropical storm 34 to 63 knots (39 to 73 mph)
  • Category 1 64 to 82 knots (74 to 95 mph)
  • Category 2 83 to 95 knots (96 to 110 mph)
  • Category 3 96 to 112 knots (111 to 129 mph), major
  • Category 4 113 to 136 knots (130 to 156 mph), major
  • Category 5 137 knots (157 mph) or more, major
  • Unknown intensity No wind speed in the record
  • Post-tropical Storm has become post-tropical (dashed line)

How to read the lines. Each line is the track of one storm, drawn through its six-hourly positions and coloured by its intensity at each point (the Saffir-Simpson scale), so a line changes colour as the storm strengthens or weakens. Tap a line for its details, or tap anywhere else to see which storms have passed nearby. Weaker storms appear as you zoom in. Hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones are the same kind of storm with different names in different oceans.

The 1979 season in numbers

The record holds 15 storms for the 1979 South-West Indian season, of which 13 had names.11 reached tropical storm strength (34 knots or more), 5 reached cyclone strength (category 1 or more) and 3 were major (category 3 or more).

  • 15storms
  • 11tropical storm strength or more
  • 5cyclone strength or more
  • 3major (category 3 to 5)
  • 64accumulated cyclone energy

Accumulated cyclone energy adds up the squared wind speed of every position of 34 knots or more, divided by 10,000. It is approximate here because the winds are 1-minute equivalents, and it is mostly useful for comparing seasons of one basin.

Strongest storms of 1979

  • Idylle (1979)4 April 1979 to 20 April 1979, peak Category 3 (108 kt), 927 hPa
  • Celine (1979)31 January 1979 to 12 February 1979, peak Category 3 (105 kt), 927 hPa
  • Hazel (1979)7 March 1979 to 14 March 1979, peak Category 3 (100 kt), 938 hPa
  • Angele (1979)13 December 1978 to 5 January 1979, peak Category 2 (93 kt), 941 hPa
  • Benjamine (1979)3 January 1979 to 14 January 1979, peak Category 2 (93 kt), 941 hPa

All 15 storms of 1979

StormPeak
Unnamed storm Tropical storm
Angele Category 2
Unnamed storm Tropical storm
Benjamine Category 2
Celine Category 3
Dora Tropical depression
Estelle Tropical storm
Fatou Tropical depression
Gelie Tropical depression
Hazel Category 3
Ivan Tropical storm
Helios Tropical depression
Idylle Category 3
Jane Tropical storm
Kevin Tropical storm

← 1978 · 1980 → · All seasons

Other basins in 1979

Embed this map

Copy this code into your web page. It is free to use. Please keep the link under the map, as it is how people find where the map comes from.