Although the depression was initially slow to organize, the system headed west-northwestward, strengthening to a tropical storm the following day and a typhoon on the July 14.

Vera moved onshore early the next day as a minimal typhoon in the Philippines before weakening slightly over the islands.

The origins of Typhoon Vera can be traced back to a poorly organized monsoon trough that extended westward from the Philippines to the 160th meridian east in early July 1983.

Four days later, a pair of organized areas of convection began to form, one near the 120th meridian east and another close to Guam.

A Tropical Cyclone Formation Alert (TCFA) was issued at 0600 UTC on July 10 after the storm developed a well-defined upper-level circulation.

However, further development was slow to occur and the TCFA was re-issued 24 hours later despite Hurricane Hunters suggesting that the storm did not have a low-level circulation.

[2] Around this time, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration also monitored the storm and assigned it with the local name Bebeng.

Convention gradually increased, until very early on July 15, when the storm started to interact with rugged terrain near Manila.

[2] Around this time, the JMA downgraded Vera into a severe tropical storm as it passed very close to Manila Bay.

Late on July 15, the storm began to reintensify[3] and the JTWC upgraded Vera back to typhoon status.

[2] Accelerating, the storm continued to slowly deepen and early on July 27, the JMA reported that Vera reached its peak intensity, with winds of 135 km/h (85 mph).

[5] Upon making landfall, Vera became the first storm to hit the nation in eight months[6] while helping to relieve drought conditions.

[13] Fifty people were confirmed to have died and 2,089 dwellings were damaged in nearby Bataan after storm surge crashed into the area.

[13] The resort city of Legaspi suffered severe damage because hundreds of dwellings were destroyed, forcing many residents to seek shelter in schools or churches.

[23] President Ferdinand Marcos ordered all relief agencies to submit damage reports so emergency funds can be issued.

[26] Heavy rains helped alleviate a prolonged drought in northern Vietnam that previously prevented the planting of rice.

[27] Because Typhoon Vera posed a threat to Southern China, 36 bulletins were issued by the Hong Kong Royal Observatory.