List of Horn of Africa tropical cyclones explained

The Horn of Africa has experienced the effects of 14 North Indian Ocean tropical cyclones since 1984, resulting in at least 108 fatalities. All but two of the storms struck Somalia from the east. The other two  - a storm in May 1984 and Cyclone Sagar in May 2018  - traversed the Gulf of Aden and struck northern Somalia. Sagar killed 78 people in Somalia, Somaliland, Djibouti, and Ethiopia. In November 2013, a deep depression struck Somalia and killed 162 people while also causing extensive livestock damage. A storm in November 1994 killed 30 people in Somalia. The most recent storm to strike the region was Very Severe Cyclonic Storm Gati in November 2020.

List of storms

• May 28, 1984 - After becoming the first documented tropical cyclone to move through the Gulf of Aden, a tropical storm struck about 65 km (40 mi) west of Berbera, Somalia and quickly dissipated.^[1]
• December 7, 1984 - A weak tropical cyclone struck eastern Somalia in Mudug province, and quickly dissipated.^[1]
• December 24, 1992 - A tropical storm in the southern Bari region, bringing beneficial rainfall to normally arid areas.^[2]
• November 20, 1994 - A cyclonic storm moved ashore eastern Somalia near Eyl, producing winds of 104km/h in Bosaso. The storm's high winds and rainfall killed 30 people and injured hundreds others.^[3] Several boats and homes were washed away.^[4]
• November 9, 1997 - A weak tropical storm struck Puntland in northeastern Somalia, and quickly dissipated.^[5]
• December 4, 2004 - The remnants of Cyclone Agni moved southwestward along the Somalia coastline, dissipating just east of the capital Mogadishu.^[6]
• October 23, 2008 - A tropical depression moved through the Gulf of Aden before striking Yemen, bringing rainfall to Somalia and causing devastating floods in Yemen.^{[7] [8]}
• October 25, 2012 - Cyclonic Storm Murjan struck the Bayla District of eastern Somalia, bringing heavy rainfall of over 40mm and gusty winds to the country and neighboring Ethiopia. Flash flooding washed away livestock and bridges in the Bari region, causing some fatalities.^{[9] [10]}
• November 11, 2013 - A deep depression struck near the border of the Nugal and Bari regions and caused severe flash flooding. It was the deadliest tropical cyclone on record in Somalia, killing more than 162 people. The depression also destroyed over 1,000 houses, displaced tends of thousands of nomads, and killed millions of livestock.^{[11] [12] [13]}
• November 2, 2015 - Cyclone Chapala entered the Gulf of Aden as the strongest tropical cyclone on record.^[14] The storm dropped heavy rainfall in Puntland and Somaliland, killing over 25,000 animals and leaving thousands of people homeless, leaving some local nomadic tribes without any food.^{[15] [16] [17]}
• November 9, 2015 - Just days after Chapala, Cyclone Megh passed 57 km (36 mi) north of Cape Guardafui, Somalia,^[18] where it dropped heavy rainfall 300% of the annual average. Eyl reported 160mm of rainfall over 24 hours. Megh damaged roads, crops, and schools.^{[19] [20]}

• May 19, 2018 - After traversing much of the Gulf of Aden, Cyclone Sagar made the westernmost landfall in the northern Indian Ocean when it struck Lughaya in northwestern Somaliland with winds of 75 km/h (45 mph).^[21] The storm dropped a years' worth of rainfall in Somalia and neighboring Djibouti, reaching around 200mm near where it moved ashore. The storm caused flash flooding that carried away houses, bridges, and entire fields, leaving 5,640 people homeless. Sagar killed 3 in Puntland, 50 in Somaliland, and 2 in Djibouti. A landslide related to the storm killed 23 people in the Somali Region of eastern Ethiopia.^{[22] [23] [24] [25] [26]}
• October 15, 2018 - Cyclone Luban struck Yemen, and its outer fringes dropped rainfall in Puntland.^[27]
• December 7, 2019 - Cyclonic Storm Pawan made landfall in Somalia just south of Eyl with winds of around 65 mph (40 mph). The storm dropped heavy rainfall along the northeast Somali coast. Flash flooding killed six people. Pawan continued westward into Ethiopia and weakened.^{[28] [29]}
• November 22–23, 2020 - Very Severe Cyclonic Storm Gati made landfall in northern Somalia, becoming the first hurricane-equivalent storm to hit the Horn of Africa.

See also

• List of Arabian Peninsula tropical cyclones

Notes and References

1. Joint Typhoon Warning Center. 135, 145. 1984 Annual Tropical Cyclone Report. December 6, 2018.
2. Joint Typhoon Warning Center. 181. 1992 Annual Tropical Cyclone Report. December 6, 2018.
3. India Meteorological Department. January 1995. Report on cyclonic disturbances over north Indian Ocean during 1994. December 5, 2018.
4. Web site: Dartmouth Flood Observatory. 1994 Global Register of Major Flood Events. December 5, 2018.
5. Joint Typhoon Warning Center. December 5, 2018. 1997 Annual Tropical Cyclone Report. 130.
6. Joint Typhoon Warning Center. December 5, 2018. 2004 Annual Tropical Cyclone Report. 190.
7. Web site: Tropical Storm Three, Gulf of Aden. Rebecca Lindsey. NASA Earth Observatory. December 6, 2018. October 23, 2008.
8. August 2014. Tropical Storm, October 2008: Recovery Framework Case Study. Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery. April 2, 2016. World Bank. https://web.archive.org/web/20150506061412/https://www.gfdrr.org/sites/gfdrr/files/Yemen_August2014.pdf. 2015-05-06. dead.
9. India Meteorological Department. Preliminary Report on Cyclonic Storm Murjan over the Arabian Sea (23-26 October 2012). October 2012. December 5, 2018.
10. Climate Prediction Center's Africa Hazards Outlook For USAID / FEWS-NET November 1 – November 7, 2012. Famine Early Warning System Network. November 1, 2012. ReliefWeb.
11. India Meteorological Department . November 11, 2013 . November 26, 2013 . Special Tropical Weather Outlook . https://www.webcitation.org/6L2sS7bBC?url=http://gwydir.demon.co.uk/advisories/RSMC_201311110300.pdf . 2013-11-11 . dead .
12. 23. The Climate in Africa: 2013. World Meteorological Organization. December 6, 2018. PDF.
13. Web site: Rare Tropical Storm in Gulf of Aden May Affect Yemen, Somalia, Djibouti. WeatherUnderground. May 17, 2018. Bob Henson.
14. Web site: Mogul. Priyanka. Cyclone Chapala: Rare tropical storm makes landfall over Yemen, killing three. International Business Times. 3 November 2015 . 6 November 2015.
15. News: news24. 3 November 2015. 4 November 2015. Cyclone leaves thousands homeless in Somalia. Mogadishu, Somalia.
16. CARE. ReliefWeb. The Humanitarian Coalition and CARE Canada help cyclone survivors in Somalia. 15 December 2015. 3 February 2016.
17. 14 November 2015. 2 February 2016. ReliefWeb. Somalia: Tropical Cyclone Chapala Emergency Plan of Action (EPoA) DREF Operation ° MDRSO004. International Federation of Red Cross And Red Crescent Societies.
18. Web site: Joint Typhoon Warning Center . Tropical Cyclone 05A (Megh) Warning NR 016 . January 26, 2016 . November 9, 2015 . dead . https://archive.today/20240522041030/https://www.webcitation.org/6cz8p3i3f?url=http://gwydir.demon.co.uk/advisories/WTIO31-PGTW_201511090300.htm . May 22, 2024 .
19. Somalia: Tropical Storm Update, Issued: 10th November, 2015. 10 November 2015. 2 February 2016. Food and Agriculture Organization. ReliefWeb.
20. United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. ReliefWeb. 13 November 2015. Somalia: Flash Update 3 Humanitarian Impact of Heavy Rains. 2 February 2016. PDF.
21. India Meteorological Department. Cyclonic Storm "Sagar" over Arabian Sea (16 – 21 May 2018): Summary. May 2018. June 11, 2018.
22. Djibouti: Flood Analysis and Evolution, Tropical Cyclone Sagar-18 (24 May 2018). UNOSAT. ReliefWeb. May 24, 2018. May 26, 2018.
23. Web site: UN: Death toll of tropical cyclone in Somalia hits 53 . 15 June 2018 . Halbeeg . 22 June 2018.
24. Humanitarian Bulletin Somalia, 1 May - 3 June 2018. June 3, 2018. United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs . ReliefWeb. June 3, 2018.
25. ReliefWeb. World Vision. World Vision East Africa Hunger Crisis Situation Report: East Africa Hunger Crisis. June 19, 2018. July 3, 2018.
26. ReliefWeb. World Vision. World Vision East Africa Hunger Crisis Situation Report: Ethiopia. June 19, 2018. July 3, 2018.
27. Somalia Rainfall Forecast - Issued: 17 October 2018. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations . October 17, 2018. ReliefWeb. December 7, 2018.
28. Cyclonic Storm 'PAWAN' over the southwest Arabian Sea and adjoining equatorial Indian Ocean (02nd – 07th December 2019): Summary. India Meteorological Department. March 13, 2020.
29. Book: Somalia: Tropical Storm Pawan Leaves Thousands in Need. Action Against Hunger. ReliefWeb. December 13, 2019. March 13, 2020.