imagery in the basin since May 1998. Wind estimates were sustained over 10 minutes, to be converted to 1‑minute winds by dividing by 0.88, as compared to a divisor of 0.80 in previous years. Warnings on tropical cyclones in the region were from the coast of Africa to 90° E, south of the equator. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center – a joint United States Navy – United States Air Force task force – also issued tropical cyclone warnings for the region. Beginning this season, the MFR changed their method for labeling tropical disturbances, classifying them sequentially by number. In previous years, the agency labeled disturbances by letter and number of the subsequent unnamed storm. The season began later than usual, the third consecutive one to do so. There were no indications of tropical cyclogenesis before the middle of December, putting the season among the latest 20% since 1967 in terms of seasons' first storms. On December 26, the MFR utilized the QuikSCAT satellite for the first time in the basin to assess a storm's intensity. During the season, 14 tropical disturbances formed, which is near average, and they tended to last longer than normal. Eleven of these disturbances became tropical depressions, of which nine attained gale force winds and were named. In addition, four storms reached tropical cyclone intensity, or 10‑minute sustained winds of . The 9 named storms and 4 tropical cyclones is also the basin average for each category in a given year. There were 61 days in which a storm was active, greater than the median of 48 and more than double than the previous season. In general, storms formed south of 10° S, with the exception of the first storm Astride, and most storms generally tracked east to west due to a strong ridge east of Madagascar. Systems Severe Tropical Storm Astride On December 23, a circulation with accompanying convection became evident about southeast of Diego Garcia, becoming a tropical disturbance. While moving to the south, the thunderstorms organized more, aided by low wind shear, good outflow, warm waters, and its position beneath an anticyclone. Curving west-southwestward due to a ridge to the south, the system intensified into a tropical depression and later Tropical Storm Astride on December 25. That day, the JTWC classified the system as Tropical Cyclone 03S. The storm developed a large area of convection, prompting the MFR to upgrade it to a