List of very severe cyclonic storms
A Very Severe Cyclonic Storm is the third highest category used by the India Meteorological Department to classify tropical cyclones, within the North Indian Ocean tropical cyclone basin between the Malay Peninsula and the Arabian Peninsula. Within the basin a very severe cyclonic storm is defined as a tropical cyclone that has 3-minute mean maximum sustained wind speeds of between. The category was introduced alongside the Super Cyclonic Storm category during 1999 in order to replace the previously used Severe Cyclonic Storm with Core of Hurricane Winds. However, it was bifurcated during 2015, when the IMD introduced a new Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm category. There have been at least eight storms that have attained such an intensity. The most recent super cyclonic storm was Cyclone Amphan in 2020.
Background
The North Indian Ocean tropical cyclone basin is located to the north of the Equator, and encompasses the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea, between the Malay Peninsula and the Arabian Peninsula. The basin is officially monitored by the India Meteorological Department's Regional Specialized Meteorological Centre in New Delhi, however, other national meteorological services such as the Bangladesh and Pakistan Meteorological Department's also monitor the basin.The Very Severe Cyclonic Storm category was introduced during 1999 alongside Super Cyclonic Storms in order, to replace the previously used Severe Cyclonic Storm with Core of Hurricane Winds. At the time it was the second-highest category with systems having 3-minute sustained wind speeds of between. However, during 2015 the category was bifurcated, after the IMD introduced a new Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm category. As a result, very severe cyclonic storms are currently estimated, to have 3-minute sustained wind speeds of between.