 The Météo @-@ France office ( MFR ) on Réunion island issued warnings in tropical cyclones within the basin during the season . The agency estimated intensity through the Dvorak technique , which utilized the continuous satellite 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 . 
