On September 25 the Joint Typhoon Warning Center identified a tropical disturbance in the Gulf of Tonkin.

[1] Early the next day the Joint Typhoon Warning Center assessed the disturbances chances of becoming a "significant tropical cyclone" within 24 hours as "Fair".

[9] Early the next day the JMA reported that Mekkhala had intensified into a severe tropical storm and reached its peak wind speeds of 50kts.

[11] During the morning of September 30, RSMC Tokyo downgraded Mekkhala to a tropical depression as they issued their final advisory.

[15][16][17] Vietnam's National Steering Committee for Storm and Flood Control also reported that Mekkhala had forced the evacuation of thousands of people and had sunk 38 fishing trawlers.

[15] An estimated 3,050 hectares of crops were damaged in Thanh Hóa Province, leading to $1.2 million in losses.

It has been used once before worldwide within the 2002 Pacific typhoon season to name a tropical storm and refers to the Thai Angel of Thunder.