2007 North Indian Ocean Cyclone Season

The 2007 North Indian Ocean cyclone season was an event in the annual cycle of tropical cyclone formation. The North Indian Ocean cyclone season has no official bounds, but cyclones tend to form between April and December, with peaks in May and November. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the northern Indian Ocean.

The scope of this article is limited to the Indian Ocean in the Northern Hemisphere, east of the Horn of Africa and west of the Malay Peninsula. There are two main seas in the North Indian Ocean — the Arabian Sea to the west of the Indian subcontinent, abbreviated ARB by the India Meteorological Department (IMD); and the Bay of Bengal to the east, abbreviated BOB by the IMD.

The official Regional Specialized Meteorological Centre in this basin is the India Meteorological Department (IMD), while the Joint Typhoon Warning Center releases unofficial advisories. The tropical cyclone scale for this basin is detailed on the right. On average, 4 to 6 storms form in this basin every season.

2007 was a busy year for this basin; it was the most destructive season in known history at this time, only for the 2008 season to surpass it the next year. 2007 was the first season to have multiple Category 5 cyclones (by the Saffir Simpson Scale), and the two Category 5s, Sidr and Gonu, were also the first named Category 5 cyclones to form in their respective seas; Gonu in the Arabian Sea, and Sidr in the Bay of Bengal. Other notable storms of the season include Akash and Yemyin, both of which caused substantial damage and deaths. At least 4,545 deaths were reported, and damage is about 6.4 billion dollars.