Rapid weakening followed once the cyclone was onshore and it degenerated into a depression on December 24 as it emerged over the Arabian Sea.

Remaining nearly stationary,[2] a tropical wave soon interacted with the low and allowed the system to consolidate into a depression two days later.

[3] A large area of showers and thunderstorms covered much of the southern Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea.

On December 18, a ship with the callsign JMAG reported 45 km/h (30 mph) winds and a barometric pressure of 1005.5 mbar (hPa; 29.69 inHg).

Based on this report, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) classified the system as a deep depression.

[2] On December 21, satellite imagery showed clouds from the storm covering an area roughly 965 km (600 mi) wide.

Early on December 23, the cyclone struck the northern tip of Ceylon and turned back toward the west-northwest.

According to an officer on Pamban Island, located between Ceylon and Southern India, the storm's eye was no more than 16 km (9.9 mi) wide.

[2] The lowest observed pressure was 978 mbar (978 hPa; 28.9 inHg) in Mannar on the west coast of Ceylon.

[5][6][7] On December 22, the powerful cyclone struck northern areas of Ceylon and caused catastrophic damage.

[15] In Mandapam, the cyclone's surge created five tidal pools over a 2 km (1.2 mi) stretch of coastline.

Three of the pools had higher than normal salinity coupled with below-average silicate content and were colonized by Peridinium.

[11] Offshore, catastrophic damage occurred to coral reefs, with Echinopora lamellosa, Montipora foliosa, and alcyonarians being killed in large numbers.

In the eight years following the storm, colonies showed substantial growth across the Palk Strait, with Acropora corymbosa covering 25–30% of the reefs.

Along the immediate coastline, the large-scale stirring of sand made areas unsuitable for coral and were not expected to ever regrow.