 The 1986 – 87 South @-@ West Indian Ocean cyclone season was below average due to an ongoing El Niño and a weak monsoon that suppressed convection and storms . There were only five named storms tracked by the Météo @-@ France office ( MFR ) on Réunion . The United States @-@ based Joint Typhoon Warning Center ( JTWC ) followed four other storms in the basin , which is the waters of the Indian Ocean south of the equator and west of 90 ° E to the coast of Africa . The JTWC tracked a storm on August 1 in the northeastern portion of the basin , unusual for the time of year . The first named storm was Severe Tropical Storm Alinina , which originated from the intertropical convergence zone east of Madagascar in the middle of January . However , there was an unnamed tropical depression that produced heavy rainfall in Réunion and Madagascar , causing two deaths in the latter country . 
