2020 was regarded as the most active tropical cyclone year on record, documenting 104 named tropical systems. During the year, 142

tropical cyclone A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its locat ...

s formed in bodies of water known as

tropical cyclone basins Traditionally, areas of tropical cyclone formation are divided into seven basins. These include the North Atlantic Ocean, the eastern and western parts of the North Pacific Ocean, the Southwest Pacific, the Southwest and Southeast Indian Oceans, ...

. Of these, a record-high of 104, including three

subtropical cyclone A subtropical cyclone is a weather system that has some characteristics of both tropical cyclone, tropical and extratropical cyclones. As early as the 1950s, meteorologists were uncertain whether they should be characterized as Tropical cyclone ...

s in the South Atlantic Ocean and three tropical-like cyclones in the Mediterranean, were named by various weather agencies when they attained

maximum sustained winds The maximum sustained wind associated with a tropical cyclone is a common indicator of the intensity of the storm. Within a mature tropical cyclone, it is found within the eyewall at a certain distance from the center, known as the radius of ma ...

of (though one storm was a crossover storm that received two names). The strongest storm of the year was

Typhoon Goni Typhoon Goni, known in the Philippines as Super Typhoon Rolly, was an extremely powerful tropical cyclone that made landfall as a Saffir–Simpson scale, Category 5 equivalent super typhoon on Catanduanes in the Philippines, and in Vietnam as ...

, peaking with a pressure of . The deadliest storm of the year was

Hurricane Eta Hurricane Eta was a deadly and erratic tropical cyclone that devastated parts of Central America in early November 2020. The record-tying twenty-eighth named storm, thirteenth hurricane, and sixth major hurricane of the extremely active 2020 A ...

which caused 175 fatalities and another 100+ to be missing in Central America and the US, while the costliest storm of the year was

Hurricane Laura Hurricane Laura was a deadly and destructive tropical cyclone that is tied with the 1856 Last Island hurricane and 2021's Hurricane Ida as the strongest hurricane on record to make landfall in the U.S. state of Louisiana, as measured by max ...

, with a damage cost around $19.1 billion in the

Greater Antilles The Greater Antilles is a grouping of the larger islands in the Caribbean Sea, including Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, and Jamaica, together with Navassa Island and the Cayman Islands. Seven island states share the region of the Greater Antille ...

The Bahamas The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic and island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean. It contains 97 per cent of the archipelago's land area and 88 per cent of ...

, and the

Gulf Coast of the United States The Gulf Coast of the United States, also known as the Gulf South or the South Coast, is the coastline along the Southern United States where they meet the Gulf of Mexico. The list of U.S. states and territories by coastline, coastal states th ...

. 2020 featured a very high amount of tropical cyclones forming in the year. It was dominated by a strong La Niña, that led to significant ramifications in tropical cyclone formations across the world. For instance, the most active basin of the year was the

North Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for ...

, which documented a record 30 named storms, the most storms ever recorded in the basin. This was only one of four known years where the North Atlantic was more active than the

West Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

, the others being

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

, and

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

. The West Pacific, in fact, had a below average season, with only 23 named storms forming. The

Eastern Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the conti ...

similarly was below average, with 17 named storms, and the lowest hurricane count seen since

. The

North Indian North India is a geographical region, loosely defined as a cultural region comprising the northern part of India (or historically, the Indian subcontinent) wherein Indo-Aryans (speaking Indo-Aryan languages) form the prominent majority populati ...

basin featured relatively average season, with 5 named storms, but became the costliest season in the basin’s history, due to the onslaught of

Cyclone Amphan Super Cyclonic Storm Amphan ( ) was an extremely powerful and catastrophic tropical cyclone that caused widespread damage in Eastern India, specifically in West Bengal and Odisha, and in Bangladesh, in May 2020. It was the strongest tropical c ...

in early May. The Southern Hemisphere overall had relatively average activity throughout much of the year. The Australian region remained below average in activity because of positive IOD, while the South-West Indian Ocean had average activity. The

South Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

basin featured a slightly above-average season, and had Cyclones Harold and

Yasa Yasa was a bhikkhu during the time of Gautama Buddha. He was the sixth bhikkhu in the Buddha's sangha and was the sixth to achieve arahanthood. Yasa lived in the 6th century BCE in what is now Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in northern India. Yasa wa ...

both attaining Category 5 intensity, and affecting a large swathe of the South Pacific. Two other Category 5 tropical cyclones formed globally, totaling to four which formed during 2020. The twenty four major tropical cyclones which formed throughout the year constituted an average amount. The

accumulated cyclone energy Accumulated cyclone energy (ACE) is a metric used to compare overall activity of tropical cyclones, utilizing the available records of windspeeds at six-hour intervals to synthesize storm duration and strength into a single index value. The ACE ...

(ACE) index for the 2020 (seven basins combined), as calculated by Colorado State University (CSU) was 599.1 units, which was below the 1981–2010 mean of 770.2 units.

Global atmospheric and hydrological conditions

As 2020 began,

sea surface temperature Sea surface temperature (or ocean surface temperature) is the ocean temperature, temperature of ocean water close to the surface. The exact meaning of ''surface'' varies in the literature and in practice. It is usually between and below the sea ...

s were above normal in the eastern Pacific Ocean near the equator, which had the potential to develop into

El Niño EL, El or el may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional entities * El, a character from the manga series ''Shugo Chara!'' by Peach-Pit * Eleven (''Stranger Things'') (El), a fictional character in the TV series ''Stranger Things'' * El, fami ...

conditions. On January 9, a group of climate scientists writing for ENSO Blog published their forecast for atmospheric conditions. They believed that there was a 60% chance that the environment would remain in neutral conditions related to the

El Niño–Southern Oscillation El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is a global climate phenomenon that emerges from variation in winds and sea surface temperatures over the tropical Pacific Ocean. Those variations have an irregular pattern but do have some semblance of cyc ...

(ENSO); this was based on the expectation that the above normal water temperatures would return to normal. By March, there was little evidence of increased rainfall near the equator. Trade winds were enhanced in the central and tropical Pacific Ocean, and water temperatures remained above normal. On April 9, ENSO Blog reaffirmed their belief that environmental conditions would remain neutral. However, the sea surface temperatures near the equatorial pacific began to cool well below average, indicating a developing

La Niña LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second most populous city in the United States of America. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music *La (musical note), or A, the sixth note *"L.A.", a song by Elliott Smit ...

. As a result, the ENSO Blog issued La Niña watch, stating a 50–55% chance of a strong La Niña. In September, NOAA confirmed that the environment shifted to a La Niña pattern, based on lower than normal water temperatures in the eastern Pacific Ocean near the equator. The ENSO Blog estimated a 75% chance that La Niña conditions would persist through the end of the year, in part due to a strengthening

Walker circulation The Walker circulation, also known as the Walker cell, is a conceptual model of the air flow in the tropics in the lower atmosphere (troposphere). According to this model, parcels of air follow a closed circulation in the zonal and vertical dir ...

. Meanwhile, in the Atlantic, sea surface temperatures were near normal in the early parts of the year. However, they began to warm up significantly that Spring, with the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico and the Main Development Region all having well above-average sea surface temperatures. This was mainly due to the developing La Niña. The

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

disrupted the response to tropical cyclones during the year. In the South Pacific island nation of

Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (; ), is an island country in Melanesia located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of northern Australia, northeast of New Caledonia, east o ...

, COVID-19, travel and

social distancing In public health, social distancing, also called physical distancing, (NB. Regula Venske is president of the PEN Centre Germany.) is a set of non-pharmaceutical interventions or measures intended to prevent the spread of a contagious dise ...

restrictions associated with the pandemic were lifted for those seeking safe houses and evacuation shelters during

Cyclone Harold Severe Tropical Cyclone Harold was a very powerful tropical cyclone which caused widespread destruction in the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji, and Tonga during April 2020. It was the first Tropical cyclone scales#Australia and Fiji, Category 5 ...

. When Typhoon Vongfong struck the Philippines in May, evacuation shelters were filled to half-capacity to comply with social distancing guidelines, requiring more evacuation centers to house refugees. As a result of the use of schools as quarantine facilities for COVID-19, some schools could not be used as evacuation shelters. When

was approaching India in May, shelter capacity in West Bengal was reduced from 500,000 people to 200,000 people due to social distancing restrictions. Movement restrictions in El Salvador were temporarily lifted to allow people to purchase supplies ahead of Tropical Storm Amanda.

Summary

ImageSize = width:1600 height:400 PlotArea = top:10 bottom:80 right:20 left:20 Legend = columns:3 left:20 top:58 columnwidth:270 AlignBars = early DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:23/12/2019 till:16/01/2021 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMinor = grid:black unit:month increment:1 start:01/01/2020 Colors = id:canvas value:gray(0.88) id:NATL value:blue legend: North_Atlantic_Ocean id:EPAC/CPAC value:green legend: East_and_Central_Pacific_Ocean id:WPAC value:red legend: West_Pacific_Ocean id:NIO value:orange legend: North_Indian_Ocean id:SWIO value:purple legend: Southwest_Indian_Ocean id:SPAC value:yellow legend: South_Pacific_Ocean id:AUSR value:pink legend: Australian_Region id:SATL value:black legend: South_Atlantic_Ocean id:MED value:gray(0.99) legend: Mediterranean_Sea Backgroundcolors = canvas:canvas BarData = barset:Hurricane bar:Month PlotData= barset:Hurricane width:11 align:left fontsize:S shift:(4,-4) anchor:till from:23/12/2019 till:02/01/2020 color:SPAC text:" Sarai" from:27/12/2019 till:01/01/2020 color:SWIO text:"Calvinia" from:04/01/2020 till:08/01/2020 color:AUSR text:"Blake" from:05/01/2020 till:18/01/2020 color:AUSR text:"Claudia" from:11/01/2020 till:20/01/2020 color:SPAC text:" Tino" from:19/01/2020 till:23/01/2020 color:SWIO text:"05" from:22/01/2020 till:26/01/2020 color:SWIO text:"Diane" from:23/01/2020 till:26/01/2020 color:SWIO text:"Esami" from:23/01/2020 till:30/01/2020 color:AUSR text:"04U" from:23/01/2020 till:25/01/2020 color:SATL text:" Kurumí" from:24/01/2020 till:25/01/2020 color:SPAC text:"05F" from:31/01/2020 till:04/02/2020 color:AUSR text:"TL" from:03/02/2020 till:07/02/2020 color:SWIO barset:break barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip from:13/02/2020 till:15/02/2020 color:SWIO text:"Francisco" from:03/02/2020 till:09/02/2020 color:AUSR text:"

Damien Damien is a given name and less frequently a surname. The name is a variation of Damian which comes from the Greek ''Damianos''. This form originates from the Greek derived from the Greek word δαμάζω (damazō), "(I) conquer, master, overco ...

" from:04/02/2020 till:05/02/2020 color:AUSR barset:break barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip from:05/02/2020 till:13/02/2020 color:SPAC barset:break barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip from:13/02/2020 till:14/02/2020 color:AUSR text:"Uesi" from:06/02/2020 till:08/02/2020 color:AUSR text:"TL" from:13/02/2020 till:17/02/2020 color:SWIO text:"Gabekile" from:13/02/2020 till:13/02/2020 color:AUSR text:"TL" from:14/02/2020 till:21/02/2020 color:SPAC text:"07F" from:15/02/2020 till:17/02/2020 color:AUSR barset:break barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip from:17/02/2020 till:18/02/2020 color:SPAC text:"08F" from:19/02/2020 till:22/02/2020 color:SPAC text:"Vicky" from:21/02/2020 till:23/02/2020 color:SPAC text:"Wasi" barset:break from:21/02/2020 till:05/03/2020 color:AUSR text:"Esther" from:22/02/2020 till:01/03/2020 color:AUSR text:"Ferdinand" from:09/03/2020 till:13/03/2020 color:AUSR text:"09U" from:10/03/2020 till:14/03/2020 color:AUSR barset:break barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip from:14/03/2020 till:16/03/2020 color:SPAC text:"Gretel" from:12/03/2020 till:19/03/2020 color:SWIO text:" Herold" from:31/03/2020 till:03/04/2020 color:AUSR text:"11U" from:01/04/2020 till:06/04/2020 color:SWIO barset:break barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip from:06/04/2020 till:06/04/2020 color:AUSR text:"Irondro" from:01/04/2020 till:02/04/2020 color:AUSR barset:break barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip from:02/04/2020 till:10/04/2020 color:SPAC text:" Harold" from:10/04/2020 till:13/04/2020 color:AUSR barset:break barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip from:13/04/2020 till:16/04/2020 color:SWIO text:"Jeruto" from:25/04/2020 till:26/04/2020 color:EPAC/CPAC text:"One-E" from:03/05/2020 till:10/05/2020 color:AUSR text:"TD" from:08/05/2020 till:18/05/2020 color:WPAC text:" Vongfong" from:16/05/2020 till:19/05/2020 color:NATL text:"

Arthur Arthur is a masculine given name of uncertain etymology. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. A common spelling variant used in many Slavic, Romance, and Germanic languages is Artur. In Spanish and Ital ...

" from:16/05/2020 till:20/05/2020 color:NIO text:" Amphan" from:19/05/2020 till:23/05/2020 color:AUSR text:"Mangga" from:27/05/2020 till:28/05/2020 color:NATL text:"

Bertha Bertha is a female Germanic name, from Old High German ''berhta'' meaning "bright one". It was usually a short form of Anglo Saxon names ''Beorhtgifu'' meaning "bright gift" or ''Beorhtwynn'' meaning "bright joy". The name occurs as a theonym, s ...

" from:29/05/2020 till:31/05/2020 color:NIO text:"ARB 01" from:30/05/2020 till:01/06/2020 color:EPAC/CPAC text:"

Amanda Amanda is a Latin feminine gerundive (i.e. verbal adjective) name meaning, literally, "she who must (or is fit to) be loved". Other translations, with similar meaning, could be "deserving to be loved," "worthy of love," or "loved very much by ev ...

" from:01/06/2020 till:09/06/2020 color:NATL text:" Cristobal" from:01/06/2020 till:04/06/2020 color:NIO text:" Nisarga" from:10/06/2020 till:14/06/2020 color:WPAC text:"Nuri" from:22/06/2020 till:24/06/2020 color:NATL text:"Dolly" barset:break from:24/06/2020 till:27/06/2020 color:EPAC/CPAC text:"Boris" from:29/06/2020 till:30/06/2020 color:EPAC/CPAC text:"Four-E" from:04/07/2020 till:06/07/2020 color:NATL text:"Edouard" from:06/07/2020 till:12/07/2020 color:EPAC/CPAC text:"Cristina" from:09/07/2020 till:11/07/2020 color:NATL text:" Fay" from:11/07/2020 till:15/07/2020 color:WPAC text:"Carina" from:13/07/2020 till:14/07/2020 color:EPAC/CPAC text:"Six-E" from:20/07/2020 till:21/07/2020 color:EPAC/CPAC text:"Seven-E" from:20/07/2020 till:28/07/2020 color:EPAC/CPAC text:"

Douglas Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals * Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking * Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil ...

" from:21/07/2020 till:25/07/2020 color:NATL text:"Gonzalo" from:23/07/2020 till:26/07/2020 color:NATL text:" Hanna" from:27/07/2020 till:29/07/2020 color:WPAC text:"TD" from:30/07/2020 till:04/08/2020 color:NATL text:"

Isaias Isaiah ( or ; , ''Yəšaʿyāhū'', "Yahweh is salvation"; also known as Isaias or Esaias from ) was the 8th-century BC Israelite prophet after whom the Book of Isaiah is named. The text of the Book of Isaiah refers to Isaiah as "the prophet" ...

" from:31/07/2020 till:01/08/2020 color:NATL text:"Ten" from:01/08/2020 till:06/08/2020 color:WPAC text:" Hagupit" from:01/08/2020 till:03/08/2020 color:WPAC text:" Sinlaku" from:06/08/2020 till:11/08/2020 color:WPAC text:"Jangmi" from:08/08/2020 till:12/08/2020 color:EPAC/CPAC text:"Elida" from:09/08/2020 till:13/08/2020 color:WPAC text:"Gener" from:09/08/2020 till:11/08/2020 color:WPAC text:" Mekkhala" from:11/08/2020 till:16/08/2020 color:NATL text:"Josephine" from:13/08/2020 till:16/08/2020 color:EPAC/CPAC text:"Ten-E" barset:break from:14/08/2020 till:15/08/2020 color:NATL text:"Kyle" from:16/08/2020 till:17/08/2020 color:EPAC/CPAC text:"Fausto" from:16/08/2020 till:21/08/2020 color:EPAC/CPAC text:"

Genevieve Genevieve (; ; also called ''Genovefa'' and ''Genofeva''; 419/422 AD – 502/512 AD) was a consecrated virgin, and is one of the two patron saints of Paris in the Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Church. Her feast day is on 3 January. Rec ...

" from:16/08/2020 till:20/08/2020 color:WPAC text:" Higos" from:20/08/2020 till:29/08/2020 color:NATL text:" Laura" from:20/08/2020 till:27/08/2020 color:WPAC text:" Bavi" from:21/08/2020 till:25/08/2020 color:NATL text:"

Marco Marco may refer to: People Given name * Marco (actor) (born 1977), South Korean model and actor Surname * Georg Marco (1863–1923), Romanian chess player of German origin * Jindřich Marco (1921–2000), Czechoslovak photographer and numismat ...

" from:26/08/2020 till:28/08/2020 color:EPAC/CPAC text:" Hernan" from:26/08/2020 till:30/08/2020 color:EPAC/CPAC text:"Iselle" from:27/08/2020 till:03/09/2020 color:WPAC text:" Maysak" from:30/08/2020 till:07/09/2020 color:WPAC text:" Haishen" from:31/08/2020 till:05/09/2020 color:NATL text:"Omar" from:01/09/2020 till:03/09/2020 color:NATL text:"

Nana Nana, Na Na or NANA may refer to: People * Nana (given name), including a list of people and characters with the given name * Nana (surname), including a list of people and characters with the surname * Nana (chief) (died 1896), Mimbreño Ap ...

" from:05/09/2020 till:07/09/2020 color:EPAC/CPAC text:"Julio" from:07/09/2020 till:16/09/2020 color:NATL barset:break barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip from:20/09/2020 till:22/09/2020 color:NATL text:" Paulette" from:07/09/2020 till:14/09/2020 color:NATL text:"Rene" from:10/09/2020 till:12/09/2020 color:WPAC text:"12W" from:11/09/2020 till:17/09/2020 color:NATL text:" Sally" from:12/09/2020 till:23/09/2020 color:NATL text:"

Teddy Teddy is an English language given name, usually a hypocorism of Edward or Theodore or Theodora. It may refer to: People Nickname * Teddy Atlas (born 1956), American boxing trainer and fight commentator * Teddy Bourne (born 1948), British Olym ...

" from:12/09/2020 till:16/09/2020 color:EPAC/CPAC text:"Karina" from:14/09/2020 till:17/09/2020 color:NATL text:"Vicky" from:14/09/2020 till:19/09/2020 color:WPAC text:" Noul" barset:break from:14/09/2020 till:20/09/2020 color:MED text:" Ianos" from:17/09/2020 till:19/09/2020 color:NATL text:"

Alpha Alpha (uppercase , lowercase ) is the first letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of one. Alpha is derived from the Phoenician letter ''aleph'' , whose name comes from the West Semitic word for ' ...

" from:17/09/2020 till:22/09/2020 color:NATL text:"

Beta Beta (, ; uppercase , lowercase , or cursive ; or ) is the second letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 2. In Ancient Greek, beta represented the voiced bilabial plosive . In Modern Greek, it represe ...

" from:17/09/2020 till:21/09/2020 color:NATL text:"Wilfred" from:19/09/2020 till:23/09/2020 color:WPAC text:"Dolphin" from:20/09/2020 till:25/09/2020 color:EPAC/CPAC text:"Lowell" from:25/09/2020 till:30/09/2020 color:WPAC text:"Kujira" from:27/09/2020 till:29/09/2020 color:WPAC text:"TD" from:29/09/2020 till:06/10/2020 color:EPAC/CPAC text:"Marie" from:02/10/2020 till:06/10/2020 color:NATL text:"

Gamma Gamma (; uppercase , lowercase ; ) is the third letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals it has a value of 3. In Ancient Greek, the letter gamma represented a voiced velar stop . In Modern Greek, this letter normally repr ...

" from:04/10/2020 till:10/10/2020 color:NATL text:"

Delta Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet * D (NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta"), the fourth letter in the Latin alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * Delta Air Lines, a major US carrier ...

" from:04/10/2020 till:17/10/2020 color:WPAC text:"Chan-hom" from:05/10/2020 till:09/10/2020 color:EPAC/CPAC barset:break barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip from:13/10/2020 till:14/10/2020 color:EPAC/CPAC text:"Norbert" from:06/10/2020 till:12/10/2020 color:WPAC text:" Linfa" from:11/10/2020 till:14/10/2020 color:WPAC text:" Nangka" from:11/10/2020 till:14/10/2020 color:NIO text:" BOB 02" from:13/10/2020 till:16/10/2020 color:WPAC text:"Ofel" from:17/10/2020 till:19/10/2020 color:NIO text:"ARB 03" from:18/10/2020 till:25/10/2020 color:WPAC text:" Saudel" from:19/10/2020 till:26/10/2020 color:NATL text:"

Epsilon Epsilon (, ; uppercase , lowercase or ; ) is the fifth letter of the Greek alphabet, corresponding phonetically to a mid front unrounded vowel or . In the system of Greek numerals it also has the value five. It was derived from the Phoenic ...

" from:19/10/2020 till:23/10/2020 color:WPAC text:"20W" from:22/10/2020 till:29/10/2020 color:WPAC text:" Molave barset:break from:22/10/2020 till:24/10/2020 color:NIO text:"BOB 03" from:24/10/2020 till:29/10/2020 color:NATL text:"

Zeta Zeta (, ; uppercase Ζ, lowercase ζ; , , classical or ''zē̂ta''; ''zíta'') is the sixth letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 7. It was derived from the Phoenician alphabet, Phoenician letter zay ...

" from:25/10/2020 till:28/10/2020 color:SATL text:"Mani" from:26/10/2020 till:06/11/2020 color:WPAC text:" Goni" from:30/10/2020 till:07/11/2020 color:WPAC text:"Atsani" from:31/10/2020 till:05/11/2020 color:NATL barset:break barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip from:06/11/2020 till:13/11/2020 color:NATL text:"

Eta Eta ( ; uppercase , lowercase ; ''ē̂ta'' or ''ita'' ) is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the close front unrounded vowel, . Originally denoting the voiceless glottal fricative, , in most dialects of Ancient Greek, it ...

" from:03/11/2020 till:05/11/2020 color:EPAC/CPAC text:"Odalys" from:06/11/2020 till:10/11/2020 color:WPAC text:"Etau" from:08/11/2020 till:16/11/2020 color:WPAC text:" Vamco" from:10/11/2020 till:15/11/2020 color:NATL text:"Theta" from:12/11/2020 till:17/11/2020 color:SWIO text:"Alicia" from:13/11/2020 till:18/11/2020 color:NATL text:"

Iota Iota (; uppercase Ι, lowercase ι; ) is the ninth letter of the Greek alphabet. It was derived from the Phoenician letter Yodh. Letters that arose from this letter include the Latin I and J, the Cyrillic І (І, і), Yi (Ї, ї), and J ...

" from:14/11/2020 till:16/11/2020 color:SWIO text:"02" from:17/11/2020 till:19/11/2020 color:EPAC/CPAC text:"Polo" from:21/11/2020 till:24/11/2020 color:NIO text:" Gati" from:23/11/2020 till:27/11/2020 color:NIO text:" Nivar" from:24/11/2020 till:30/11/2020 color:AUSR barset:break barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip from:30/11/2020 till:10/12/2020 color:SWIO text:"Bongoyo" from:30/11/2020 till:05/12/2020 color:NIO text:" Burevi" from:05/12/2020 till:06/12/2020 color:WPAC text:"TD" from:06/12/2020 till:12/12/2020 color:AUSR text:"02U" from:07/12/2020 till:11/12/2020 color:AUSR text:"TL" from:08/12/2020 till:12/12/2020 color:SPAC text:"01F" barset:break from:11/12/2020 till:19/12/2020 color:SPAC text:"

" from:11/12/2020 till:16/12/2020 color:SPAC text:"Zazu" from:18/12/2020 till:24/12/2020 color:WPAC text:" Krovanh" from:18/12/2020 till:23/12/2020 color:AUSR text:"03U" from:19/12/2020 till:30/12/2020 color:SWIO text: Chalane" from:20/12/2020 till:28/12/2020 color:AUSR text:"04U" from:27/12/2020 till:31/12/2020 color:SATL text:"Oquira" from:28/12/2020 till:03/01/2021 color:SWIO text:"05" from:28/12/2020 till:12/01/2021 color:SWIO text:"Danilo" from:29/12/2020 till:29/12/2020 color:WPAC text:"TD" bar:Month width:5 align:center fontsize:S shift:(0,-20) anchor:middle color:canvas from:24/12/2019 till:31/12/2019 text:Dec. '19 from:01/01/2020 till:31/01/2020 text:January from:01/02/2020 till:29/02/2020 text:February from:01/03/2020 till:31/03/2020 text:March from:01/04/2020 till:30/04/2020 text:April from:01/05/2020 till:31/05/2020 text:May from:01/06/2020 till:30/06/2020 text:June from:01/07/2020 till:31/07/2020 text:July from:01/08/2020 till:31/08/2020 text:August from:01/09/2020 till:30/09/2020 text:September from:01/10/2020 till:31/10/2020 text:October from:01/11/2020 till:30/11/2020 text:November from:01/12/2020 till:31/12/2020 text:December from:01/01/2021 till:16/01/2021 text:Jan. '21 TextData = pos:(690,30) text:"This table is based on the" pos:(810,30) text:"

North Atlantic Ocean

2020 Atlantic hurricane season summary map

An average Atlantic hurricane season features 14 tropical storms, 7 hurricanes, and 3 major hurricanes, and features an Accumulated Cyclone Energy (ACE) count of 110. This is according to the new 30-year averages from 1991 to 2020. In 2020 in the North Atlantic basin, all of the statistics fell well above listed, featuring a record-breaking 30 tropical storms, 14 hurricanes, and 7 major hurricanes, with an ACE total of 182. After fifteen years, the

2020 Atlantic hurricane season The 2020 Atlantic hurricane season was the most active Atlantic hurricane season on record, in terms of the number of systems. It featured a total of 31 tropical and subtropical cyclones, with all but one cyclone becoming a named storm. ...

has surpassed record high activity in terms of named storms. The season produced thirty-one tropical cyclones, of which thirty developed into named storms; thirteen became

hurricanes A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its locat ...

, and seven attained

major hurricane Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

status. The season's first cyclone developed on May 16, and activity was unprecedented after

formed, with an additional off-season storm forming having been named Tropical Storm Bertha. In July, five individual storms (most notably

Hurricane Isaias Hurricane Isaias () was a destructive tropical cyclone that caused extensive damage across the Caribbean and the East Coast of the United States while also spawning the strongest tropical cyclone-spawned tornado since Hurricane Rita in 2005. Th ...

, which spawned a damaging tornado outbreak in the United States) formed and tied the record with 2005 as the most active July on record. The month of August also included Hurricanes Laura and

, which both impacted the United States and the former becoming the costliest of the year. Afterwards, a record-breaking ten storms developed in the month of September. Afterwards, October featured little relief with 3 hurricanes and 4 named storms forming all and all. The catastrophic season ended on November 18, after

Hurricane Iota Hurricane Iota was a devastating late-season tropical cyclone which caused severe damage to areas of Central America already devastated by Hurricane Eta two weeks prior. The 31st and final tropical cyclone, 30th named storm, 14th hurricane, an ...

dissipated. Iota was also the most intense hurricane of the season with a minimum central pressure of 917 mbar. Iota was also the strongest storm in terms of wind speed, peaking with a strength of 155 mph or as a

Category 4 hurricane Category, plural categories, may refer to: General uses *Classification, the general act of allocating things to classes/categories Philosophy * Category of being * ''Categories'' (Aristotle) * Category (Kant) * Categories (Peirce) *Category (V ...

on the

Saffir–Simpson scale The Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale (SSHWS) is a tropical cyclone intensity scale that classifies hurricanes—which in the Western Hemisphere are tropical cyclones that exceed the intensities of tropical depressions and tropical sto ...

. Many records were broken throughout the season, including the extreme rate of tropical cyclone formations, the second time on record that the Greek naming system for named storms was used, and the strength of the storms which formed in the months of October and November. The season was very destructive, causing an estimated $51.146 billion (2020 USD) in damage and more than four hundred fatalities. Most destruction was due to Laura, which caused about $19.1 billion (2020 USD) in damage and killed seventy people in

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

in early November also caused $7 billion (2020 USD) in damage and was the deadliest storm of the season, causing over two hundred deaths as it crossed the vast majority of Central America and eventually made three more landfalls: one in

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

, and two in Florida.

Eastern and Central Pacific Oceans

2020_Pacific_hurricane_season_summary_map

An average Pacific hurricane season features 15 tropical storms, 9 hurricanes, and 4 major hurricanes, and features an Accumulated Cyclone Energy (ACE) count of 132. In 2020 in the Eastern and Central Pacific basins, most of the statistics fell below the above list. The exception was the number of tropical storms, featuring 17, which was slightly above average for the basin. The season as a whole, however, was below average. Featuring only seventeen tropical storms (sixteen received names), four hurricanes, and three major hurricanes, the

2020 Pacific hurricane season The 2020 Pacific hurricane season was a near average Pacific hurricane season in terms of named storms, featuring 17 (including one unnamed tropical storm which was operationally classified as a tropical depression), but well below average season ...

was the least active season in exactly a decade. Despite the inactivity, an unusual tropical depression formed on April 25 – the record earliest start to an Eastern Pacific hurricane season since reliable records began in 1966. The strongest storm in the basin this year was Hurricane Marie, which reached low-end Category 4 strength on the

and it did not impact land. Elsewhere, Tropical Storm Amanda was the costliest storm of the season after its

El Salvador El Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador, is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is S ...

landfall. Hurricane Douglas caused minor damage to the

Hawaiian Islands The Hawaiian Islands () are an archipelago of eight major volcanic islands, several atolls, and numerous smaller islets in the Pacific Ocean, North Pacific Ocean, extending some from the Hawaii (island), island of Hawaii in the south to nort ...

as it passed north as a Category 1, and

Hurricane Genevieve The name Genevieve has been used for seven tropical cyclones in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. * Hurricane Genevieve (1984) - A Category 3 hurricane that passed offshore Mexico and dissipated near the southern tip of the Baja California Peninsula * Hur ...

nearly became the strongest landfalling system of the season, but failed to do so as it passed southwest of the Baja California Peninsula. The season concluded on November 19 with the dissipation of Tropical Storm Polo, which briefly existed for around 2 days prior. Each individual storm generated very low ACE counts throughout the season, ending at a total of just 73 units. These statistics are typical of a

that has been persisting since the beginning of the year. In addition, no storms formed in the Central Pacific Ocean this year – the first such occurrence since

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

Western Pacific Ocean

The average typhoon season lasts year-round, with the majority of the storms forming between May and October. An average Pacific typhoon season features 26 tropical storms, 16 typhoons, and 9 super typhoons (unofficial category). It also features an average Accumulated Cyclone Energy (ACE) count of approximately 294; the basin is typically the most active basin for tropical cyclone formation. For only the third time ever and the first in a decade, the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season surpassed the 2020 Pacific typhoon season in named storms, which had below-average statistics, especially in the count of super typhoons. This was only the third time ever that the typhoon season wasn't the most active season; two times (2005 and 2010) it was the Atlantic hurricane season, and the fourth (and only time the most active season wasn't in the Northern Hemisphere) being the 1973 Australian cyclone season. The season was slightly below average with most of the

s affecting the Korean Peninsula and the Philippines. Overall, there were 31 tropical depressions declared officially or unofficially, of which 22 became named storms; of those, there were 10

typhoon A typhoon is a tropical cyclone that develops between 180° and 100°E in the Northern Hemisphere and which produces sustained hurricane-force winds of at least . This region is referred to as the Northwestern Pacific Basin, accounting for a ...

s, which is the equivalent of a minimal

hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its ...

, while 2 of the 10 typhoons intensified into super typhoons unofficially by the JTWC. The season began very late with the first storm, Vongfong, developing on May 10, southeast of the Philippines. Exactly one month later, Tropical Storm Nuri formed, marking one of the slowest starts on record. In July, almost no storms formed, marking the quietest July in over 130 years. In August, Typhoon Hagupit became the second typhoon of the season, striking China. Typhoons Bavi, Maysak, and Haishen were a series of three major typhoons to strike the Korean Peninsula in just a two-week span in August and September. In October,

Typhoon Chan-hom The name Chan-hom has been used to name four tropical cyclones in the Western North Pacific Ocean. The name refers to a type of tree and was submitted by Laos. * Typhoon Chan-hom (2003) (T0303, 04W), strong storm that stayed away from land * Typho ...

was the longest-lived storm of the season, Typhoon Saudel was another contributing storm to the Vietnam flood event, Tropical Storm Linfa became the deadliest storm of the season and year, and Typhoon Molave caused catastrophic damage to the Philippines.

in October–November was the strongest and most intense storm of the season and year. The final typhoon of the season was

Typhoon Vamco Typhoon Vamco (transliterated from Vietnamese Vàm Cỏ), known in the Philippines as Typhoon Ulysses, was a powerful and very destructive Category 4-equivalent typhoon that struck the Philippines and Vietnam in mid-November 2020. It also ...

, which was another serious Philippine typhoon. The last depression dissipated in early December. During most of the year, sea surface temperatures were moderately below normal near the equator, and were highest around 160° E from August to October. Partially as a result, most of the storms make landfall in Philippines. No named storms entered the basin from the Central Pacific, east of the International Date Line. Overall, there were 22 named storms in the basin in 2020, which was slightly below the norm of 27. A total of 10 of the 22 storms became typhoons, a moderately lower than normal proportion.

North Indian Ocean

The season was slightly above average, with nine tropical cyclones, five cyclonic storms, four severe cyclonic storms, three very severe cyclonic storms, and one super cyclonic storm. The first storm, in the

Bay of Bengal The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean. Geographically it is positioned between the Indian subcontinent and the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese peninsula, located below the Bengal region. Many South Asian and Southe ...

, formed on May 16 from a

low-pressure area In meteorology, a low-pressure area (LPA), low area or low is a region where the atmospheric pressure is lower than that of surrounding locations. It is the opposite of a high-pressure area. Low-pressure areas are commonly associated with incle ...

. It went on to strengthen into a super cyclonic storm, being designated Super Cyclonic Storm Amphan, and make landfall in India three days later, becoming the costliest storm ever recorded in the basin. Amphan simultaneously dissipated. In June, Severe Cyclonic Storm Nisarga became the first storm in the new thirteen-list naming system. After Nisarga dissipated, there was no activity between June 4 and October 11 – one of the longest gaps in inactivity on record. Then, on October 11, after the inactivity gap came to a close, Deep Depression BOB 02 formed. It made landfall in

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...

and caused extensive damage. Two more depressions formed in October, and none were named – one of only a few occurrences on record. Gati formed on November 21, causing one of the longest naming gaps in history. Gati later became a Category 3 tropical cyclone on the

, and made landfall in the

Horn of Africa The Horn of Africa (HoA), also known as the Somali Peninsula, is a large peninsula and geopolitical region in East Africa.Robert Stock, ''Africa South of the Sahara, Second Edition: A Geographical Interpretation'', (The Guilford Press; 2004), ...

near

Ras Hafun Ras Hafun (, , ), also known as Cape Hafun, is a promontory in the northeastern Bari region of the Puntland state in Somalia. Geography Jutting out into the Guardafui Channel, the promontory constitutes the easternmost point of mainland Africa ...

which became later the strongest cyclone to attack

Somalia Somalia, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia, is the easternmost country in continental Africa. The country is located in the Horn of Africa and is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, Kenya to the southwest, th ...

since reliable records began in 1891. Two more storms formed in the Bay of Bengal – Nivar and Burevi, both impacting south India. Nivar was in late November and affected South India at

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

. Burevi formed on November 30, scraped

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

, and dissipated just off the coast of India.

South-West Indian Ocean

January–June

The 2019–20 season was slightly above average, with eight tropical depressions, seven tropical storms, and three intense tropical cyclones in 2020. As the season was reaching January, it already has seen four tropical cyclones throughout the second half of 2019. No tropical cyclones developed until January 19, which was very late in the calendar year. Diane and Esami later formed, with Diane being the costliest and deadliest storm. In February, Moderate Tropical Storm Francisco formed, and was deemed very weak. After Intense Tropical Cyclone Gabekile formed, becoming the first of three intense cyclones of 2020. It was also the most intense tropical cyclone in the 2020 part of the 2019–20 South-West Indian Ocean cyclone season. With the month of March being the least active of the year, Intense Tropical Cyclone Herold formed, becoming the first major tropical cyclone, which is Category 3 or higher on the Saffir–Simpson scale. Irondro later followed on April 1, and concluded with the dissipation of Jeruto on April 16.

July–December

On November, 12 Alicia formed on the extreme northeast section of the basin. This marked the third season in a row with a pre-season tropical cyclone. Alicia strengthened into a tropical cyclone on November 15, rapidly weakened due to the vertical wind shear and cool waters, and dissipated on November 17. On November 14, another tropical disturbance formed off the coast of

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

; however, on November 16 the system failed to organise due to unfavourable vertical wind shear according to

JTWC The Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) is a joint United States Navy – United States Air Force command in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The JTWC is responsible for the issuing of tropical cyclone warnings in the North-West Pacific Ocean, South P ...

. It rapidly weakened and dissipated the next day. The basin remained quiet until, on November, 30 a tropical low crossed over from the Australian region. It strengthened into a moderate tropical storm, then to a severe tropical storm, and was named Bongoyo. Two additional low formed, one formed but exited the basin on December 20 and another Zone of Disturbed Weather formed near

Diego Garcia Diego Garcia is the largest island of the Chagos Archipelago. It has been used as a joint UK–U.S. military base since the 1970s, following the expulsion of the Chagossians by the UK government. The Chagos Islands are set to become a former B ...

, which strengthened to Severe Tropical Storm Chalane, which made landfall on

and

Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...

, the first tropical cyclone for this season to make landfall. The same Zone of Disturbed Weather which exited on December 20, again re-entered on December 28, following with another Zone of Disturbed Weather, designated 06. On January 1, 06 intensified into Tropical Storm Danilo and continued into 2021 for 12 more days.

Australian Region

January–June

The 2019–20 Australian region cyclone season was a below average

season for the waters surrounding Australia between longitudes

90°E The meridian 90° east of Greenwich is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean, Asia, the Indian Ocean, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica to the South Pole. It is the border between two tropical cyclone bas ...

and 160°E. It became the least active season since the 2016–17 season with only three systems intensified further into severe tropical cyclones, and three systems made landfall within the region at tropical cyclone intensity. The season had an unusually late start with the first system, Blake, forming in early January, well after the official start of the season. Blake would later make landfall in north-western Australia and soon degenerate afterwards. At the same time, Claudia, another tropical cyclone, formed. It persisted for two weeks and reached category 3 on the Australian tropical cyclone scale before dissipating west of Australia. Later that month, a tropical low formed and lasted for a week before dissipating in late January without been named. Three other tropical lows formed in late January and early February. One of them dissipated later. Another one of them has been moving in and out of the Australian region. It was designated 06F by the

Fiji Meteorological Service The Fiji Meteorological Service (FMS) is a Department of the government of Fiji responsible for providing weather forecasts and is based on the grounds of Nadi Airport in Nadi. The current director of Fiji Meteorological Service is Misaeli Funak ...

. The third one intensified into Cyclone Damien. In late February, 2 new tropical lows formed, and were named Esther and Ferdinand. Esther didn't strengthen much, but Ferdinand went on to become a Category 3 severe tropical cyclone, equivalent to a Category 2 Atlantic Hurricane. Then two cyclones named Gretel and Harold formed in Coral Sea on March and April respectively. They both exited the basin and intensified further into the South Pacific basin. The season concluded with the two lows formed in the area under TCWC Jakarta, which the latter one was named as Mangga which became one of the powerful

extratropical cyclone Extratropical cyclones, sometimes called mid-latitude cyclones or wave cyclones, are low-pressure areas which, along with the anticyclones of high-pressure areas, drive the weather over much of the Earth. Extratropical cyclones are capable of p ...

to hit Australia such late in the season.

July–December

On November 24, Tropical Low 01U formed off the coast of

Sumatra Sumatra () is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the list of islands by area, sixth-largest island in the world at 482,286.55 km2 (182,812 mi. ...

which started the 2020–21 season. It exited the basin on November 30 and entered the South West Indian Ocean where it intensified into a severe tropical storm and it was named Bongoyo. After that, on December 6 another low formed off the coast of

Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...

, which also intensified into a tropical storm status according to JTWC. It hit

Christmas Island Christmas Island, officially the Territory of Christmas Island, is an States and territories of Australia#External territories, Australian external territory in the Indian Ocean comprising the island of the same name. It is about south o ...

and dissipated quickly after making landfall in

Pilbara The Pilbara () is a large, dry, sparsely populated regions of Western Australia, region in the north of Western Australia. It is known for its Indigenous Australians, Aboriginal people; wealth disparity; its ancient landscapes; the prevailing r ...

region of

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

. Along with the system another low formed off the coast of

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia Queensland * Kimberley, Queensland, a coastal locality in the Shire of Douglas South Australia * County of Kimberley, a cadastral unit in South Australia Ta ...

region. Both system caused strong winds and heavy downpour. Another low named ''03U'' formed and quickly dissipated after making landfall in

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

, Australia. Another low originated near Sumatra entered the basin on December 20, which then exited on December 28.

South Pacific Ocean

January–June

The 2019–20 season was slightly above average with eight tropical cyclones and four severe tropical cyclones forming during the season. The other half, 2020 began with the arrival of Tropical Depression 01F on November 22, near the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands, also known simply as the Solomons,John Prados, ''Islands of Destiny'', Dutton Caliber, 2012, p,20 and passim is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 1000 smaller islands in Melanesia, part of Oceania, t ...

, which would later become Tropical Cyclone Rita. Rita would then peak as a Category 3 on the Australian scale. Tropical Disturbance 02F was designated sometime later, but didn't last long after that. Sarai formed on December 23, lasting into the new year before finally ceasing to exist on January 2. Not too long after that, Tino formed and affected eastern

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

and the surrounding area before dissipating. On January 24, a depression formed and dissipated the next day without been named. In early February, another low originally in the Australian region crossed the

160th meridian east The meridian 160° east of Greenwich is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean, Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica to the South Pole. The 160th meridian east forms a great circle wit ...

and emerged in the South Pacific. It strengthened into severe tropical cyclone Uesi and affected

New Caledonia New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. Located from Metropolitan France, it forms a Overseas France#Sui generis collectivity, ''sui generis'' collectivity of t ...

and New Zealand. In mid-February four disturbances formed, 07F, 08F, 09F and 10F. 07F & 08F dissipated before becoming tropical depressions but the other 2 strengthened into tropical cyclones Vicky and Wasi. In mid March, Gretel entered the basin. It dissipated shortly afterwards. In early April, Harold also entered the basin from the Australian region. It rapidly intensified into a Category 5 Severe tropical cyclone as it impacted

. The season ended on April 10.

July–December

During December 8, the FMS reported that Tropical Disturbance 01F had developed, while it was located about to the northeast of Apia in Samoa. Over the next few days, the system moved westwards towards Vanuatu and developed into a tropical depression, before it started to interact with Tropical Disturbance 02F that had developed near Vanuatu. On December 13, 15:00 UTC, 02F intensified into a Category 1 tropical cyclone Yasa according to Australian scale. Yasa continued intensifying, reaching Category 5 intensity on the Australian scale. The following day, 03F intensified into Category 1 tropical cyclone Zazu, strengthening to Category 2. Yasa peaked with a minimum barometric pressure of and maximum wind speed of , while Zazu dissipated into an extratropical cyclone. Yasa caused catastrophic damage and four deaths in Fiji. It became extratropical on December 20.

South Atlantic Ocean

The South Atlantic Ocean had a record breaking three named systems in 2020; Subtropical Storm Kurumí in late January, Subtropical Storm Mani in late October, and Subtropical Storm Oquira in late December. Kurumí caused devastating floods and mudslides in Southeast region of Brazil, while Mani caused heavy rainfall in the

Espírito Santo Espírito Santo (; ) is a state in southeastern Brazil. Its capital is Vitória, and its largest city is Serra. With an extensive coastline, the state hosts some of the country's main ports, and its beaches are significant tourist attracti ...

state. Oquira caused little damage to any landmasses.

Mediterranean Sea

In the Mediterranean Sea, a powerful system unofficially named ''Ianos'' by Greece formed and affected

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

and

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

, with winds peaking at and a minimum pressure of 995 mb (29.38 inHg). Its remnants then affected

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

and

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

Systems

January

The month of January was borderline-average in terms of named storms and systems formed, but below average in terms of intensity in the Southern Hemisphere, however, no tropical cyclones developed within the Northern Hemisphere. A total of ten storms developed, with six of these systems were named and had gale-force winds, while two of these named storms developed hurricane-force winds and were classified as severe tropical cyclones. As the month began, both Calvinia and Sarai were weakening and gradually dissipated over the next few days.

Blake Blake or Blake's may refer to: People * Blake (given name), a given name of English origin (includes a list of people with the name) * Blake (surname), a surname of English origin (includes a list of people with the name) ** William Blake (1757 ...

subsequently became the first named storm of the year and made two landfalls in the

region, bringing heavy rainfall throughout the region. Adding on, Tino brought considerable damage throughout the South Pacific in the middle portion of the month, and a rare

South Atlantic tropical cyclone South Atlantic tropical cyclones are unusual weather events that occur in the Southern Hemisphere. Strong wind shear, which disrupts the formation of Tropical cyclone, cyclones, as well as a lack of weather disturbances favorable for development ...

formed, named Kurumí, becoming the first of its kind to be named in January later on in the month.

February

The month of February was fairly above average, seeing thirteen tropical cyclones develop, with eight being named.

became the first and strongest storm of the month, impacting the

region of Western Australia as a Category 2 tropical cyclone on the

. Uesi also impacted the east coast of Australia and

, killing one person. Later in the month, activity increased in the South Pacific with

Vicky Vicky, Vick, Vickie or Vicki is a feminine given name, often a hypocorism of Victoria. The feminine name Vicky in Greece comes from the name Vasiliki. Notable people with the name * Family nickname of Victoria, Princess Royal (1840–190 ...

and Wasi forming, bringing heavy rain to the

Samoan Islands The Samoan Islands () are an archipelago covering in the central Pacific Ocean, South Pacific, forming part of Polynesia and of the wider region of Oceania. Political geography, Administratively, the archipelago comprises all of the Samoa, Indep ...

. Consequently, activity also increased in the Australian basin with

Esther Esther (; ), originally Hadassah (; ), is the eponymous heroine of the Book of Esther in the Hebrew Bible. According to the biblical narrative, which is set in the Achaemenid Empire, the Persian king Ahasuerus falls in love with Esther and ma ...

and

Ferdinand Ferdinand is a Germanic name composed of the elements "journey, travel", Proto-Germanic , abstract noun from root "to fare, travel" (PIE , "to lead, pass over"), and "courage" or "ready, prepared" related to Old High German "to risk, ventu ...

forming, with Ferdinand staying north of the Australian coastline its entire lifetime.

March

March was highly below average. Actually, it was the least active month of 2020, with only four systems forming with two being named. Despite that, Gretel and Herold formed, with the latter becoming the first major tropical cyclone of 2020.

April

The month of April was average with five storms developing and three being named, though the month featured Harold which was responsible for devastating damage in

and the first category 5-equivalent storm of 2020, as well as the first to be featured in the South Pacific since

Gita The Bhagavad Gita (; ), often referred to as the Gita (), is a Hindu scripture, dated to the second or first century BCE, which forms part of the epic poem Mahabharata. The Gita is a synthesis of various strands of Indian religious thought, ...

in 2018. It also featured Tropical Depression One-E in the Eastern Pacific, becoming its earliest forming tropical cyclone in the basin proper, and the first storm in the Northern Hemisphere in 2020.

May

The month of May was well above average with eight tropical cyclones developing and six of those being named. Vongfong (Ambo) became the first storm of the Pacific typhoon season, marking the latest start to the basin since 2016 and dealing significant damage in the Philippines.

also developed in the month, giving the North Atlantic season six consecutive seasons with pre-season activity. Amphan became the strongest of the month, and also became one of the strongest cyclones in the

North Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it ...

on record as well as the costliest storm in the basin on record. Later in the month, Mangga formed as an off-season tropical storm in the Australian region. Furthermore,

formed in the Atlantic and marked the first time since 2016 that two pre-season storms have formed in the Atlantic, as well as the first time since 2012 that two tropical depressions or storms formed in the month of May. Cristobal formed on June 1 from the remnants of

in and affected Mexico and the United States, becoming the earliest third named storm in the North Atlantic Ocean on record. However, Cristobal does not count for June, as it counts as one tropical cyclone, rather than two.

June

June was below average with just six tropical cyclones forming and five of them being named. In the North Indian Ocean, Nisarga formed near southwest India and historically affected the cities of

Alibag Alibag, also known as Alibaug (Pronunciation: �libaːɡ, is a coastal city and a municipal council in Raigad district of Maharashtra, India. It is the headquarters of the Raigad district and is south of the city of Mumbai. Alibag is part of the ...

and

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

Nuri Nuri is a place in modern Sudan on the west side of the Nile River, Nile, near the Fourth Cataract. Nuri is situated about 15 km north of Sanam, Sudan, Sanam, and 10 km from Jebel Barkal. History Nuri is the second of three Napatan bur ...

formed on the eastern coast of the Philippines, becoming the second storm of the typhoon season in the West Pacific but quickly weakened before landfall. Near the end of the month, Dolly formed in the North Atlantic Ocean and became the third-earliest fourth named storm in the basin on record but dissipated before reaching any land.

July

The month of July was average, with 14 tropical cyclones forming and 9 being named. Edouard which developed on July 4, officially became the earliest-forming fifth named storm in the North Atlantic on July 6, surpassing the July 11 record set by 2005's

Emily Emily may refer to: * Emily (given name), including a list of people with the name Music * "Emily" (1964 song), title song by Johnny Mandel and Johnny Mercer to the film ''The Americanization of Emily'' * "Emily" (Dave Koz song), a 1990 song ...

. It was later joined by Fay on July 9, which became the earliest-forming sixth named storm in the basin and proceeding to make an unusual landfall in

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

, surpassing the previous July 21 record set by Franklin (2005). In the West Pacific, the third tropical depression of the formed on July 11 and at the end of the month featured Typhoon Hagupit, the second typhoon of the season, and Tropical Storm Sinlaku. Category 4 Hurricane Douglas then became one of the latest first hurricanes in the Eastern Pacific and would become the first major hurricane of the East Pacific hurricane season, which would also be the strongest storm of the month. Douglas made an unusually close pass to the

, as a Category 1 hurricane but caused little to no damage. Near the end of the month,

Gonzalo Gonzalo may refer to: * Gonzalo (name) * Gonzalo, Dominican Republic, a small town * Isla Gonzalo, a subantarctic island operated by the Chilean Navy * Hurricane Gonzalo, 2014 See also

* Gonzalez (disambiguation) * Gonzales (disambiguatio ...

, Hanna and

marked the earliest seventh, eighth, and ninth-named storms on record in the Atlantic, beating the record set by

Gert Gert is a mainly masculine given name (sometimes a short form of Gerrit, Gerard, etc.), with some female bearers (short for Gertrude). Since 1993 no one in Sweden has been baptised as Gert according to the Swedish Bureau of Census, so the na ...

, Harvey and

Irene Irene is a name derived from εἰρήνη (eirēnē), Greek for "peace". Irene, and related names, may refer to: * Irene (given name) Places * Irene, Gauteng, South Africa * Irene, South Dakota, United States * Irene, Texas, United States ...

all in 2005 respectively. Hurricane Hanna and

together would become the first and second hurricanes of the Atlantic hurricane season, with Isaias in particular spawning a damaging tornado outbreak in the Eastern United States.

August

August was average, seeing 18 tropical cyclones forming and 15 named storms. Storms Josephine, Kyle, Laura, and

became the earliest 10th, 11th, 12th, and 13th named storms on record in the Atlantic and forming on August 13, 14, 21 and 22, respectively.

made its track through the Caribbean and eventually strengthened into a high-end Category 4 hurricane, making the strongest hurricane landfall tying with

Hurricane Ida Hurricane Ida was a deadly and extremely destructive tropical cyclone in 2021 that became the second-most damaging and intense hurricane to make landfall in the U.S. state of Louisiana on record, behind Hurricane Katrina in 2005. In terms of m ...

of 2021 ever recorded in the U.S state of

and causing over US$14 billion in damage. In the eastern Pacific, a tropical cyclone outbreak resulted in the formation of Elida, Fausto,

, Hernan, and

Iselle Trasquera is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola in the Italian region Piedmont, located about northeast of Turin and about northwest of Verbania, in the Val Divedro, on the border with Switzerland. Trasquera bord ...

. Although not directly making landfall, Hurricane Genevieve passed very close to

Baja California Sur Baja California Sur, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California Sur, is a state in Mexico. It is the 31st and last state to be admitted, in 1974. It is also the second least populated Mexican state and the ninth-largest state by ...

and caused minor damage. Activity in the Western Pacific increased significantly with the formation of Jangmi, Mekkhala, a tropical depression that didn't affect land, and Higos in the

South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by South China, in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan island, Taiwan and northwestern Philippines (mainly Luz ...

. Following after Higos, a series of typhoons named Bavi, Maysak, and Haishen formed, all impacting

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

and Haishen becoming the strongest of the month as a near-Category 5 equivalent typhoon.

September

September featured slightly below average activity. However, it was the most active month of the year, with 19 tropical cyclones developing and of which 17 were named. Also not officially included is

Medicane Ianos Cyclone Ianos, also known as Medicane Ianos, was a rare Mediterranean tropical-like cyclone, medicane that impacted the eastern Mediterranean basin, Mediterranean on 17 and 18 September 2020, especially Greece. Ianos developed from an low-pressur ...

, which developed in the Mediterranean Sea and is included for record-keeping purposes only. The North Atlantic mainly contributed to most development in the month and continued its record breaking season with the development of Hurricanes

, Paulette, Sally, and

, and (Sub)Tropical Storms

Omar Umar ibn al-Khattab (; ), also spelled Omar, was the second Rashidun caliph, ruling from August 634 until his assassination in 644. He succeeded Abu Bakr () and is regarded as a senior companion and father-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muh ...

, Rene,

, Wilfred,

, and

Hurricane Sally Hurricane Sally was a destructive and slow-moving tropical cyclone that was the first hurricane to make landfall in the U.S. state of Alabama since Hurricane Ivan, Ivan in 2004 Atlantic hurricane season, 2004, coincidentally on the same date i ...

brought devastating impacts to parts of the Southeastern United States while Hurricane Paulette made landfall in

Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...

as a Category 1 hurricane.

Subtropical Storm Alpha The name Alpha or Alfa has been used for three subtropical cyclones and one tropical cyclone in the Atlantic Ocean: * Subtropical Storm Alpha (1972), pre-season storm that made landfall in Georgia * Subtropical Storm Alfa (1973), briefly threaten ...

, the first Greek-named storm of the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season, made an extremely rare landfall in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

, as well as breaking several other records, such as being the easternmost forming tropical cyclone on record in the basin. Furthermore, three tropical storms

Julio Julio is the Spanish equivalent of the month July and may refer to: *Julio (given name) * Julio (surname) * Júlio de Castilhos, a municipality of the western part of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil * ''Julio'' (album), a 1983 compilation al ...

, Karina, Lowell, and one hurricane,

Marie Marie may refer to the following. People Given name * Marie (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name ** List of people named Marie * Marie (Japanese given name) Surname * Jean Gabriel-Marie, French compo ...

formed in the Eastern Pacific. Additionally, the Western Pacific typhoon season produced 5 storms, three of which became tropical storms: Noul,

Dolphin A dolphin is an aquatic mammal in the cetacean clade Odontoceti (toothed whale). Dolphins belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontopori ...

, and

Kujira , better known by her stage name , is a Japanese voice actress from the Tokyo Metropolis area. She is employed by 81 Produce. Her best-known roles include Otose in ''Gin Tama'' and Orochimaru in ''Naruto''. She also voices Sakura Ogami in ''Da ...

October

October was above average, being tied for the second-most active month of the year, with thirteen of the cyclones being named. The month started off with the Atlantic's third Greek-named storm,

, and continued with consistent record-breaking Atlantic activity including 4 additional hurricanes;

and

. Delta and Zeta impacted the

Yucatán Peninsula The Yucatán Peninsula ( , ; ) is a large peninsula in southeast Mexico and adjacent portions of Belize and Guatemala. The peninsula extends towards the northeast, separating the Gulf of Mexico to the north and west of the peninsula from the C ...

before making landfall in

. Eta rapidly intensified to a high-end

, becoming the second strongest of the season and the third strongest hurricane in November ever recorded. Once it made landfall in Central America, it caused more than 180 fatalities. The Eastern Pacific was very quiet, only featuring

Norbert Norbert is a Germanic given name and infrequent surname, from '' nord'' "north" and ''berht'' "bright". People with the given name Academia * Norbert Angermann (born 1936), German historian * Norbert A’Campo (born 1941), Swiss mathematician * ...

while the Western Pacific was active featuring numerous tropical systems which also led to severe floods in Vietnam, including Saudel, Molave, and Goni. In particular, Goni became tied with Meranti and Haiyan as the most intense typhoon recorded in the

Eastern Hemisphere The Eastern Hemisphere is the half of the planet Earth which is east of the prime meridian (which crosses Greenwich, London, United Kingdom) and west of the antimeridian (which crosses the Pacific Ocean and relatively little land from pole to p ...

on record, and the most intense cyclone recorded to make landfall in history, with sustained one-minute winds of causing historical levels of damage in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. In the North Indian Ocean, BOB 02, ARB 03 and BOB 03 formed which caused the delay of the withdrawal of

Southwest Monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal oscil ...

season and flash flooding in Telangana and Maharashtra. Also during the month was a rare subtropical storm in the South Atlantic named

Mani Mani may refer to: People * Mani (name), (), a given name and surname (including a list of people with the name) ** Mani (prophet) (c. 216–274), a 3rd century Iranian prophet who founded Manichaeism ** Mani (musician) (born 1962), an English ...

, although it drifted well away from land.

November

November was well above average with twelve tropical cyclones forming, of which eleven were named. In the Western Pacific, Etau and Vamco developed, Vamco later becoming a Category 4 typhoon and both further contributing to the devastating flooding in Vietnam and in the Philippines, dealing an outstanding $440.8 million USD worth of damage. In the Eastern Pacific two tropical storms, Odalys and

Polo Polo is a stick and ball game that is played on horseback as a traditional field sport. It is one of the world's oldest known team sports, having been adopted in the Western world from the game of Chovgan (), which originated in ancient ...

, formed but intensified little. In the North Atlantic the incredibly active season continued with

Theta Theta (, ) uppercase Θ or ; lowercase θ or ; ''thē̂ta'' ; Modern: ''thī́ta'' ) is the eighth letter of the Greek alphabet, derived from the Phoenician letter Teth 𐤈. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 9. Gree ...

and

having developed and breaking the record for the most named storms in an Atlantic hurricane season, surpassing

. Iota eventually became one of the latest Category 4 hurricanes to be recorded in the North Atlantic basin, continuing a spree of damage in Central America following

. In the Southern Hemisphere, Alicia and Tropical Depression 02 formed marking the beginning of the 2020–21 South–West Indian Ocean cyclone season. In the North Indian Ocean the season resumed activity with Gati forming off the coast of

in the

Arabian Sea The Arabian Sea () is a region of sea in the northern Indian Ocean, bounded on the west by the Arabian Peninsula, Gulf of Aden and Guardafui Channel, on the northwest by Gulf of Oman and Iran, on the north by Pakistan, on the east by India, and ...

which explosively intensifying into a Category 3 equivalent tropical cyclone, becoming the strongest tropical cyclone to ever make landfall in

. Shortly after Gati, Nivar formed off the coast of

and also began to quickly intensifiy to a Category 1 equivalent tropical cyclone before striking

Karaikal Karaikal (, , Help:IPA/French, /kaʁikal/) is a port city of the Indian States and territories of India, Union Territory of Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry. It is the administrative headquarters of the Karaikal district, Karaikal Di ...

. Not before a week after, another tropical cyclone named Burevi made a rare landfall in

. In the Australian region, one low formed which started the

2020–21 Australian region cyclone season The 2020–21 Australian region cyclone season was a below average but very deadly season when most tropical cyclones formed in the Southern Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans between 90°E and 160°E. It produced 8 tropical cyclones with 3 stren ...

which crossed the South-West Indian Ocean basin and intensified into a cyclone that was later named Bongoyo.

December

December was slightly above average featuring thirteen systems, however only six were named. At the beginning of the month, the active Tropical Low 01U later became Severe Tropical Storm Bongoyo although the precursor of the storm formed in November and is thus counted as part of that month. In the Australian region, two tropical lows formed in and both impacted the

region of

, one reaching near Category 1 tropical cyclone strength according to Australian scale. The South Pacific also included three cyclones, one of which was

Cyclone Yasa Severe Tropical Cyclone Yasa was the second Category 5 severe tropical cyclone in 2020 after Cyclone Harold, Harold in the 2019–20 South Pacific cyclone season. Yasa was the second tropical disturbance, as well as the first tropical c ...

which became the earliest Category 5 South Pacific cyclone on record, as well as the second Category 5 severe tropical cyclone in the South Pacific after Harold this year. Yasa went on to significantly impact the country of

after weakening somewhat from peak strength. Cyclone Zazu also formed alongside Yasa, but had minimal impact on land outside

Niue Niue is a self-governing island country in free association with New Zealand. It is situated in the South Pacific Ocean and is part of Polynesia, and predominantly inhabited by Polynesians. One of the world's largest coral islands, Niue is c ...

. Another depression formed in the West Pacific in the middle of the month and eventually strengthened into Tropical Storm Krovanh over the

. Krovanh was responsible for at least US$2.28 million in damage and eight dead in the

. Additionally, another system designated ''03U'' formed near the

and made landfall shortly afterwards, enhancing rainfall over the region. Near the end of the month, the record third

of the year formed and was given the name ''Oquira.'' The South-West Indian Ocean also featured one storm, Chalane, which brought minimal damage to

and impacted

. The month concluded with two other systems in the basin:

Danilo Danilo is a given name found in Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and Serbian. Notable people with the name Danilo include: Athletes Footballers * Danilo (footballer, born 1979), Brazilian footballer Danilo de Andrade * Danilo (footballer, born ...

and Tropical Depression 05.

Global effects

There are a total of nine

, seven are seasonal and two are non-seasonal, thus all seven basins except the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

and

South Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for ...

are active. In this table, data from all these basins are added. Deaths in parentheses are additional and indirect (an example of an indirect death would be a traffic accident).

Notes

² Only systems that formed either on or after January 1, 2020 are counted in the seasonal totals.
³ Only systems that formed either before or on December 31, 2020 are counted in the seasonal totals.
⁴ The wind speeds for this tropical cyclone/basin are based on the

IMD Scale Tropical cyclones are ranked on one of five tropical cyclone intensity scales, according to their maximum sustained winds and which tropical cyclone basins they are located in. Only a few classifications are used officially by the meteorologica ...

which uses 3-minute sustained winds.
⁵ The wind speeds for this tropical cyclone/basin are based on the Saffir Simpson Scale which uses 1-minute sustained winds.
⁶The wind speeds for this tropical cyclone are based on

Météo-France Météo-France is the official French meteorological administration, also offering services to Andorra and Monaco. It has the powers of the state and can exercise them in relation to meteorology. Météo-France is in charge of observing, study ...

which uses wind gusts.

References

and the

Météo-France – La Reunion
nbsp;– South Indian Ocean from 30°E to 90°E
Fiji Meteorological Service
nbsp;– South Pacific, west of 160°E, north of 25° S Tropical Cyclone Warning Centers
Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysical Agency of Indonesia
nbsp;– South Indian Ocean from 90°E to 141°E, generally north of 10°S
Australian Bureau of Meteorology
nbsp;– South Indian Ocean & South Pacific Ocean from 90°E to 160°E, generally south of 10°S
Papua New Guinea National Weather Service
nbsp;– South Pacific Ocean from 141°E to 160°E, generally north of 10°S
New Zealand MetService
nbsp;– South Pacific west of 160°E, south of 25°S

– Monitors the East Pacific, Central Pacific, West Pacific, South Pacific, North Indian Ocean and South Indian Ocean {{Tropical cyclone season, 2020 Tropical cyclones by year

Global atmospheric and hydrological conditions

Summary

North Atlantic Ocean

Eastern and Central Pacific Oceans

Western Pacific Ocean

North Indian Ocean

South-West Indian Ocean

January–June

July–December

Australian Region

January–June

July–December

South Pacific Ocean

January–June

July–December

South Atlantic Ocean

Mediterranean Sea

Systems

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Global effects

See also

Notes

References

External links