 During the season , the Météo @-@ France office ( MFR ) on Réunion island issued warnings in tropical cyclones within the basin . Using satellite imagery from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration , the agency estimated intensity through the Dvorak technique , and warned on tropical cyclones in the region from the coast of Africa to 90 ° E , south of the equator . At the time , the World Meteorological Organization recognized the MFR as a Regional Tropical Cyclone Advisory Centre , and would later label the agency as a Regional Specialized Meteorological Center in 1993 . The Joint Typhoon Warning Center ( JTWC ) , which is a joint United States Navy – United States Air Force task force , also issued tropical cyclone warnings for the southwestern Indian Ocean . The season 's 11 named storms is slightly above the long term average , while the five tropical cyclones – a storm attaining maximum sustained winds of at least 120 km / h ( 75 mph ) – was the same as the long term average . There was an ongoing La Niña event in the middle of the season . The MFR considered the tropical cyclone year to begin on August 1 and continue to July 31 of the following year . 
