MUMBAI: The calendar year 2019 has witnessed the highest number of cyclonic disturbances -- seven -- over the Arabian Sea in the last 127 years, the India Meteorological Department said on Wednesday.
In 1998, there were six cyclonic disturbances (CDs), as per the IMD records.
Yearly average for the area is 1.7.
Compared to the Arabian Sea, the activity over the Bay of Bengal has been subdued, with three cyclones recorded so far against the average four every year, the IMD said.
The cyclonic activity brought post-monsoon rain, hitting agriculture in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Goa and Karnataka.
Of the seven cyclonic disturbances over the Arabian Sea this year, four were recorded post-monsoon.
"This is the maximum frequency of cyclonic disturbances observed over the Arabian sea so far in the post monsoon period," an IMD official said.
"The recorded last such activity was in 1982 and 2011 when four CDs were observed in the post-monsoon season," he said.