An unusually strong late-season storm, Gilda developed on December 13 from a disturbance first identified southeast of Chuuk State three days prior.

On December 18, the typhoon peaked with maximum sustained winds of 280 km/h (170 mph) shortly before the storm made landfall on Samar with a slightly weakened intensity.

[nb 1] After passing into the South China Sea, Gilda steadily weakened and made a final landfall in southern Vietnam before dissipating on December 22 over Cambodia.

However, these vortices later consolidated, allowing for Gilda to quickly intensify to typhoon status at 0000 UTC on December 14;[2] by this time a small eye had been identified within the cyclone.

The development of a trough in the Luzon Strait caused the forward motion of the typhoon to slow on December 16, prompting the JTWC to forecast a recurvature to the north and northeast at the time.

At roughly 1200 UTC on December 21, the system was downgraded to tropical storm status, at which time it made a final landfall near Phan Rang–Tháp Chàm in Vietnam.

Across nine provinces in the central Philippines, at least 23 people were killed and another 60,000 were displaced,[1][3] and Gilda was considered one of the country's worst tropical cyclones in recent memory.