2019-20 Mediterranean medicane season (TG)

The 2019-20 Mediterranean medicane season was a slightly above average season that lasted from July 1, 2019 until June 30, 2020, with the peak months occurring between September and February. The 2019-20 season was very deadly and destructive, causing a total of at least $6 billion in damages. Most of the damage was caused by the strongest storm of the season, Medicane Xylona, which became the most intense medicane ever recorded, beating out Medicane Cornelia's previous record of 970 millibars. Xylona caused at least 110 fatalities, and also at least $4.05 billion in damages, becoming the second-costliest medicane on record, just behind Medicane Cleopatra. The season featured a few other destructive and/or deadly storms, including Medicane Cassilda, which brought a storm surge of at least 6 feet at its landfall in the Greek Island of Crete. Cassilda caused at least 15 fatalities and $600 million (2019 USD) in damages. One of the worst disasters of the season, however, was Medistorm Falchion, which caused extreme flooding in the Balearic Islands and France, which ended up resulting in its retirement. An odd storm that occurred in the season was Medicane Helios, which lasted several days as it looped around the Western Mediterranean, eventually dissipating over Libya. During the season, almost all of the stronger systems formed in the western portion of the basin, which was contrast to the previous 2 seasons, which were more central biased. Overall, the season was one fo the most intense and destructive seasons on record.

Seasonal Predictions
Ahead of and during the season, several national meteorological services and scientific agencies forecast how many named storms, medicanes, and major medicanes (Category 1 or higher on the Saffir-Simpson scale) will form during a season and/or how many cyclones will affect a particular country. These agencies include the Mediterranean Cyclone Prediction Centre (MCPC), Mediterranean Tropical Cyclone Center (MTCC), the Free University of Berlin (FUB) and the United Kingdom Meteorological Agency (UKMO). The forecasts include weekly and monthly changes in significant factors that help determine the number of medistorms, severe medistorms, medicanes, and major medicanes within a particular year. Some of these forecasts also take into consideration what happened in previous seasons and an ongoing El Niño event that had formed in late 2018. On average, a Mediterranean medicane season between 2000 and 2016 contained 14 named storms, 4 medicanes, and 1 major medicane, with an Accumulated Cyclone Energy (ACE) index of between 8 and 15 units.

Pre-season predictions
The first prediction for the 2019-20 season was issued by the Mediterranean Cyclone Prediction Center (MCPC) on March 2, 2019, calling for an above average season due to the El Niño event that was taking place, but the forecast noted that the conditions would likely flip toward La Nina eventually, causing the declining of late-season activity. A couple months later, in May. The Free University of Berlin issued its first prediction, calling for an average season with a possible transition to neutral conditions in the middle of the season. The MCPC revised their prediction to 16 storms, up from their original 15 storms, stating that the season could be enhanced more by the ENSO neutral conditions that were expected to develop in the season.