under the influence of an active intertropical convergence zone (itcz), a low pressure system formed over the bay of bengal on january 2, slowly organizing as it moved into a favorable environment. a tropical cyclone formation alert (tcfa) was issued by the joint typhoon warning center (jtwc). on january 4, the india meteorological department (imd) commenced its advisories on the storm, designating it "depression bob 01", followed by the jtwc classifying the storm a tropical cyclone. the storm intensified a little further, before it made landfall over north sri lanka on january 6 and degenerating into a low pressure area during the following day.