On December 10, surface observations from Chuuk State suggested that a tropical cyclone was potentially developing to the island's southeast. As a result, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) requested aircraft reconnaissance on the system, which located a defined but weak circulation center 640 km (400 mi) southeast of Guam associated with the disturbance. Over the next few days, the system slowly intensified, with the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) determining the storm to have reached tropical depression strength at 1800 UTC on December 11 and the JTWC indicating tropical storm intensity by December 13. That day, reconnaissance indicated that the storm had two distinct circulation centers, both weak in intensity. However, these vortices later consolidated, allowing for Gilda to quickly intensify to typhoon status at 0000 UTC on December 14; by this time a small eye had been identified within the cyclone.
