It then reached its peak intensity shortly, with maximum sustained winds of 85 km/h (55 mph) and a minimum barometric pressure of 1002 hPa before making landfall along the northern portion of the Malaysian state of Sabah between 1700 and 1800 UTC (3:00 - 4:00 am MYT) on December 26.

Following the massive aftermath of the storm, the state government of Sabah immediately started to rehabilitate the areas that sustained damages, and relief operations were speeded.

In the middle of December, two low-latitude monsoon troughs were located in the extreme western Pacific Ocean, well associated with a strong westerly wind burst that would spawn the system that would be Tropical Storm Fern and itself in the Northern Hemisphere.

[1] The second trough which was located in the Southern Hemisphere, will also generate cloudiness in the Australian region that would also spawn three systems in the basin: namely Ophelia, Phil and Fergus.

[1] A persistent area of convection was first mentioned by the JTWC on December 21 at 2100 UTC in their Significant Tropical Weather Advisory over the low latitudes of the South China Sea, well west of Brunei.

[1] At 04:00 UTC, the JTWC issued a Tropical Cyclone Formation Alert on the system, depicting a rapid convective organization being detected in the microwave and visible satellite images.

[1] Despite wind shear starting to impact the developing system, the depression intensified to a tropical storm on December 25 at 0000 UTC and was named Greg.

[1] Combined effects of wind shear and the prevailing northeast monsoon made Greg slowly intensify while taking a southeastward track, before turning to the east, approaching northwestern Sabah, a state of Malaysia.

[1][2] The forward motion of Greg also increased, before reaching its peak intensity of 85 km/h (55 mph) and a minimum barometric pressure reading of 1002 hPa (29.59 inHg) that time.

[1] At 0600 UTC on December 27, the JTWC issued their final warning on the system as it dissipated to the south of Mindanao, ending the very active 1996 Pacific typhoon season.

[1][5] With these factors blocking the northeast monsoon to the east, the strong pattern of winds from the south helped Greg to take an eastward track.

[1][5] Adding on, the large circulation of developing Fern to its northeast were hypothesized as another reason for the system's east-southeastward motion as it started to dissipate.

[1] Hours prior to Greg moving ashore, the Malaysian Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia) issued subsequent warnings of heavy rainfall and strong winds to the territory of Labuan and western Sabah, all in Malaysia.

[7][12] The impacts of Greg were separated by divisions, as follows: In the capital of Sabah, some residents reported that the roofs of hundreds of houses were torn and some trees were downed due to high winds.