1975 North Indian Ocean cyclone season

In a nutshell

The 1975 North Indian Ocean cyclone season was at the time, the most active cyclone season on record until it was beaten out 17 years later. The season has no official bounds but cyclones tend to form between April and December. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the northern Indian Ocean. There are two main seas in the North Indian Ocean—the Bay of Bengal to the east of the Indian subcontinent and the Arabian Sea to the west of India. The official Regional Specialized Meteorological Centre in this basin is the India Meteorological Department (IMD), while the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) releases unofficial advisories. An average of five tropical cyclones form in the North Indian Ocean every season with peaks in May and November. Cyclones occurring between the meridians 45°E and 100°E are included in the season by the IMD.

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Through Indian Ocean, Indian subcontinent and Gujarat

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Systems

Tropical Storm One (01B)

Cyclone Two (02A)

Two meandered slowly northwest, attaining hurricane-force winds between May 3 and May 5. The cyclone dissipated before making landfall.

Cyclone Three (03B)

On May 5, Cyclone Three formed offshore of Thailand before recurving into Burma on May 7 as a hurricane-force system. Three moved inland and dissipated on May 8.

Tropical Storm Five (05B)

Cyclone Sixteen (16A)

Cyclone Sixteen formed on 19 October and began to intensify, peaking as a Very Severe Cyclonic Storm or as a Category-1 equivalent storm on October 21. The storm made landfall at Porbandar in Gujarat at peak intensity on 22 October. Sixteen dissipated on October 24.

The cyclone caused severe damage to livelihoods, killing 85 people. Total damages were estimated to be ₹75 crore (equivalent to ₹23 billion or US$240 million in 2026).

Tropical Storm Eighteen (18B)

Tropical Storm Nineteen (19B)

Tropical Storm Twenty (20B)

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