Tracking northwest at a brisk pace, the depression gradually intensified, and was upgraded into a tropical storm at noon on December 9.

After clipping the northern tip of Palawan Island, the typhoon entered the South China Sea at peak intensity.

[1] At 06:00 UTC, the JTWC upgraded the system, which was located 565 km (350 mi) east-southeast of Palau, into a tropical depression,[2] with the JMA following suit six hours later.

[2] At 00:00 UTC on December 9, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) began to track the storm and assigned it with the local name Norming.

[7] After crossing the 10th parallel north, Faith turned towards the west-northwest, and by December 10, the storm entered a period of rapid intensification.

[8] At 18:00 UTC, the JMA upgraded Faith into a typhoon, while also estimating that it attained its peak intensity of 120 km/h (75 mph) and a minimum barometric pressure of 970 mbar (28.6 inHg).

While maintaining peak intensity,[1] Typhoon Faith slowly decelerated while tracking on a west-northwesterly course as it approached the Vietnamese coast due to the effects of another mid-latitude trough, which eroded the subtropical ridge to its north.

[2] At the time of landfall, the JTWC estimated winds of 115 km/h (70 mph)[7] while the JMA determined that Faith had weakened to a tropical depression.

[3] Once inland, the storm began to quickly dissipate;[2] the JMA ceased tracking the system at noon the same day.

[14] Seventeen passengers were rescued, fourteen people were rendered missing, and two bodies were recovered when high waves toppled the motor vessel Lion No.

[20] Following the storm, Philippines President Joseph Estrada pledged emergency funding for four provinces struck by the typhoon, along with a series of wintertime rainstorms.