Although the system was initially poorly organized, it developed rather quickly, and was upgraded into Tropical Storm Nelson on March 19.

On March 25, Nelson reached its peak intensity of 115 km/h (70 mph), but thereafter moved ashore on the Philippines, where the storm weakened significantly.

On March 27, the typhoon entered the South China Sea, and the next day, briefly re-intensified before resuming a weakening trend.

Affecting the nation less than a week after Tropical Storm Mamie did, Nelson was responsible for additional flooding across much of the Philippines.

[nb 1] The second of three early season tropical cyclones to form in the West Pacific basin, Typhoon Nelson can be traced back to a low latitude area of disturbed in mid-March.

Despite the aforementioned favorable environment,[1] Nelson briefly weakened late on March 19, but re-intensified slightly the following morning.

Further intensification was halted due to increased easterly wind shear,[1] and the storm began to level off in intensity[5] as it accelerated on a westward course.

[3] Around this time, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) also started monitoring the storm, assigning it with the local name Bising.

Consequently, Typhoon Nelson began to deepen more rapidly,[1] and by the afternoon of March 25, both the JTWC and JMA increased the intensity to 185 km/h (115 mph).

[5] The next day, Nelson briefly re-intensified slightly, and at 1800 UTC on March 28, the JMA estimated a secondary peak intensity of 105 km/h (65 mph).

[11] A total of 1,261 dwellings were leveled,[12] including 703 houses destroyed in the provinces of Cebu, Bohol, and Surigao,[13] leaving approximately 83,000 people homeless.