 The JTWC designated systems with a number and either a S or a P suffix depending on which side of 135E.The Bureau of Meteorology and Papua New Guinea national Weather Service both used the Australian Tropical Cyclone Intensity Scale, and estimated windspeeds over a ten-minute period, while the JTWC estimated sustained winds over a one-minute period and are comparable to the Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Scale.On 8 December, a cluster of clouds developed over the Timor sea and moved towards the south-east, following a large scale mid-latitude forcing event.