 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 120 km / h ( 75 mph ) . 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 . 
