Severe Cyclonic Storm Agni was a tropical cyclone of the 2004 North Indian Ocean cyclone season notable for its record proximity to the equator. It was the second North Indian Ocean cyclone to receive a name, after Onil earlier in the year. Agni formed on November 28 well to the southwest of India in the Arabian Sea, and steadily intensified as it tracked northwestward. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) estimated peak 1 minute sustained winds of , while the India Meteorological Department (IMD) estimated peak 3 minute sustained winds of ; the IMD is the official warning center for the north Indian Ocean. After peaking, it weakened due to wind shear, dry air, and cooler waters, and the JTWC issued its final advisory on December 3 as it approached the coast of Somalia. The remnants of Agni moved along the Somalian coastline until dissipating on December 5. Meteorological history A tropical disturbance was observed on November 19 about 800 km (500 mi) southeast of Colombo, Sri Lanka in the Bay of Bengal. The disturbance tracked westward, gradually organizing and prompting the JTWC to issue a Tropical Cyclone Formation Alert (TCFA) on November 22. After passing south of Sri Lanka, it became disorganized and was no longer considered likely to develop into a tropical cyclone. The circulation associated with the system continued westward, reorganizing on November 26 in the Arabian Sea. Despite being located unusually close to the equator, the disturbance maintained convection, or thunderstorms, which was becoming organized around the weak low-level circulation. With low wind shear and diffluence aloft, the JTWC remarked the system had a fair chance of developing. While the system was organizing, the center crossed the equator to reach about 0.5° S, thus becoming an anticyclonic circulation in the southern hemisphere. This was unusual, as the Coriolis effect is nonexistent along the equator—the Coriolis effect refers to planetary vorticity, which provides the spin in a cyclone. The JTWC later assessed the system as remaining in the northern hemisphere, reaching as far south as 0.7° N, or about 80 km (50 mi) from the equator. After the circulation organized further beneath the convection, the JTWC issued another TCFA at 0300 UTC on November 28. Three hours later, the agency classified the system as Tropical Cyclone 05A about 1300 km (800 mi) southwest of the southern tip of India. In a post-season analysis, the JTWC estimated the