The 2001–02 South Pacific cyclone season was a below-average year in which only five named storms formed or entered the South Pacific basin. It began on November 1, 2001 and ended on April 30, 2002. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the southern Pacific Ocean east of 160°E. Additionally, the regional tropical cyclone operational plan defines a tropical cyclone year separately from a tropical cyclone season, and the "tropical cyclone year" runs from July 1, 2001 to June 30, 2002. The season's sixteen tropical depressions existed within these dates with the first developing on November 29 and the last dissipating on April 22.