First classified as a tropical depression north of Madagascar, the system moved southwest, crossing the northern part of the nation before entering the Mozambique Channel on 27 February, where it began to deepen.

Later that day, Filao attained peak intensity, with winds of 135 km/h (85 mph) and a minimum barometric pressure of 954 mbar (hPa); 28.17 inHg.

[nb 1] On 23 February, Météo-France's office on the island of Réunion (MFR) started monitoring a tropical depression to the northeast of Madagascar.

[1] At this time, the depression developed a closed circulation, which received a rating of T1.5 on the Dvorak Scale, a tool used to estimate a system's intensity.

[3] Following a slight increase in organization,[2] the depression moved southwest[4][nb 2] and quickly crossed the tip of northern Madagascar.

The new position of the ridge provided highly favorable conditions aloft, resulting in a period of rapid deepening.

[4] Early on 1 March, data from MFR indicated that Filao reached its peak intensity of 85 mph (135 km/h) and its minimum pressure of 954 mbar (hPa); 28.17 inHg,[1] in agreement with T4.5 and T5.0 from the Dvorak Technique.

[1][6] Cyclone Filao quickly weakened over land; both agencies suggest that the storm dissipated on 2 March[1][4] over the Zambeze Valley and embedded into the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ).

[12] In the Inhassunge Province, 400 ha (990 acres) of rice were lost and thousands of coconut trees were downed by the storm.

[16] Throughout the nation of Mozambique, large portions of the maize, potatoes, tomatoes, cucumber, and pumpkin crops were washed away due to flooding.