At the start of March 1997, the monsoon trough of low pressure over the southern Pacific became better organised, while atmospheric convection persisted and increased in coverage.

[1][2] On March 2, 1997, the Fiji Meteorological Service (FMS) reported that a tropical depression had developed within the monsoon trough, about 705 km (440 mi) to the northwest of the Fijian dependency of Rotuma.

[2][4] At around 21:00 FST (09:00 UTC) on March 3, the United States Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) initiated advisories on the system and designated it as Tropical Cyclone 31P.

[7][3] During that day two troughs of low pressure combined to steer the system to the southeast as it passed about 50 km (30 mi) to the southwest of Niulakita, Tuvalu with estimated 10-minute sustained wind speeds of about 155 km/h (96 mph).

[3] Early on March 6, RSMC Nadi reported that Gavin was moving towards Fiji and had reached its peak intensity as a category 4 severe tropical cyclone, with 10-minute sustained winds of 185 km/h (115 mph).

[5] The cyclones waves, storm surge and strong winds both caused a severe amount of coastal erosion on all of the country's nine atolls, with about 6.7% of the land washed into the sea.

[5][23] Early on March 5, the FMS issued a tropical cyclone alert for the French Overseas Territory, as Gavin was moving slowly towards the east — southeast and heading towards the islands.

[5] On Wallis Island, only a small amount of damage was reported, with some traditional houses and food crops flooded on the north coast by seawater at high tide.