[1] The 27th tropical depression and 13th named storm of the 1998 Pacific typhoon season, Dawn formed from a monsoon trough in the South China Sea on November 16.

The precursor to Dawn formed in a monsoon trough in the South China Sea, and on November 16, a circulation appeared near the island of Palawan, with the low becoming better organized after a northeasterly surge.

[4] On November 19 at 06:00 UTC, the JMA upgraded Dawn to a tropical storm,[3] with the JTWC assessing that it had peaked at the same time, with 1-min sustained winds of 45 knots (85 km/h; 50 mph).

[6] The same day at 15:00 UTC, Dawn made landfall near Cam Ranh as a tropical storm,[2] with considerable wind shear affecting it, with an exposed low-level circulation.

[3][5] The combined effects of Dawn and cold weather from the north brought heavy rain to the provinces of Quang Binh, Khanh Hoa, and Tay Nguyen.