The years between 1950 and 1959 featured the 1950s North Indian Ocean cyclone seasons. Each season was an ongoing event in the annual cycle of tropical cyclone formation. The North Indian tropical cyclone season has no bounds, but they tend to form between April and December, peaks in May and November. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the northern Indian Ocean. Below are the most significant cyclones in the time period. Because much of the North Indian coastline is near sea level and prone to flooding, these cyclones can easily kill many with storm surge and flooding. These cyclones are among the deadliest on earth in terms of numbers killed. At the time, only one RSMC, the India Meteorological Department (IMD), monitored the basin. However, in 1959, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) was founded, resulting in it releasing unofficial advisories for the basin.
This cyclone brought torrential rainfall to Midnapore district in West Bengal. About 20,000 people were left homeless, while another 20,000 people were left stranded near the Assam border after the Haora River topped its banks. There was an estimated 480 fatalities, most caused by landslides.[3]
A cyclone developed over the Arabian Sea near the Gulf of Oman on December 27. Moving westward, the storm lashed Bahrain with winds of 110 mph (180 km/h). An offshore oil rig collapsed, killing 20 Royal Dutch Shell employees.[3]
This system first became a low-pressure area near the Laccadive Islands on May 19, tracking northwest towards the Arabian peninsula. The system made landfall at Raysut on May 24. At Salalah, skies clouded over on May 23 as the pressure fell significantly. Winds turned northerly before midnight that night. At 1 a.m. on May 24 the peak of the storm's winds arrived. Maximum sustained winds were estimated at 70 knots (130 km/h) and the pressure at Salalaha fell to 968 millibars (28.6 inHg). Many vessels offshore, including two large passenger ships, went to pieces. Five buildings collapsed and several roofs were blown away by the cyclone. Salalah recorded 82 millimetres (3.2 in) of rain at their airport. A total of 141 lives from the ship Samha were taken during this tempest.[5]
