that had developed within the Intertropical Convergence Zone, about 575 km (355 mi) to the south-east of Nauru. Over the next few days the depression gradually developed and organised further, as it moved towards the west-southwest under the influence of a north-easterly steering flow. During 28 December, the JTWC classified the depression as Tropical Cyclone 05P, before the FMS named it Rewa as it had become a category 1 tropical cyclone on the Australian tropical cyclone intensity scale. Over the next few days, the system gradually intensified under the influence of favorable upper-level winds while it moved towards the south-southwest, passing through the Solomon Islands on 29 December and affecting the southeastern islands of Papua New Guinea. As it moved through the Solomon Islands, Rewa moved out of the South Pacific basin and into the Australian region, where the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) took the primary warning responsibility for the system. On December 30, the JTWC reported that Rewa had become equivalent to a category 1 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale (SSHS); early the next day the BoM reported that the system had developed into a category 3 severe tropical cyclone, and an eye became visible on satellite imagery. The system then abruptly turned and started to move towards the south parallel to the Queensland coast because of an interaction with an upper-level trough of low pressure. During 2 January, Rewa's eye became well defined and compact on microwave imagery, as it fluctuated in intensity, with Dvorak technique numbers of 6.0 and 7.0 recorded before it reached its peak intensities. As a result of these numbers, the BoM estimated 10 - minute sustained windspeeds of and a minimum pressure of , which made it a category 5 severe tropical cyclone on the Australian Scale. Meanwhile, the JTWC estimated that Rewa had peaked with 1-minute 1-minute sustained windspeeds of , which made it a category 4 hurricane on the SSHWS. Rewa remained at its peak intensity for 24 hours before the system started to weaken during January 3, as strengthening upper level north-westerlies increased vertical wind shear over the system. Throughout that day, the cyclone started to move towards the south-east, before it started to take a more eastwards track as it approached 160°E. During 4 January, Rewa moved back into the South Pacific basin and continued eastward as a weakening category 3 severe tropical cyclone, with 10-minute sustained