 On December 25, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center initiated advisories on Tropical Cyclone 04B while it was located about 155 miles (250 km) east of Sri Lanka.On the center's first advisory, the tropical storm was drifting west-northwest at 3 mph (5 km/h) with maximum sustained winds of 45 mph (70 km/h).Shortly thereafter, the IMD upgraded the deep depression to a cyclonic storm as a central dense overcast developed over the center.