(IMD) began monitoring the disturbance. Quickly organizing, the low developed into a tropical depression later on April 24 and the JTWC began writing full advisories on the cyclone without issuing a Tropical Cyclone Formation Alert. Organization slowed thereafter due to moderate wind shear, but continued at a near-climatological rate as upper-level outflow allowed for continued convective development. Early on April 25, the JTWC estimated the system to have attained gale-force winds. The IMD followed suit later that day and subsequently assigned it the name Mala. Weak steering currents prompted slow and erratic movement with an overall northward trajectory. Forecasters at this time anticipated little intensification as the system was expected to move into a region of higher shear. However, on April 27, the system moved under a subtropical ridge and conditions quickly became favorable for intensification. The presence of the ridge greatly enhanced the outflow over the cyclone and an eye developed by 1200 UTC. By this time, both the JTWC and IMD estimated Mala to have attained hurricane-force winds with the latter classifying it as a very severe cyclonic storm. The previously weak steering currents became more established as well, with the storm now tracking northeast toward Myanmar through a weakness in a ridge over Southeast Asia. Situated in an area with sea surface temperatures of , the cyclone was able to undergo rapid intensification as wind shear abruptly diminished. The IMD estimated Mala to have reached its peak intensity at 0900 UTC on April 28 with winds of and a barometric pressure of 954 mbar (hPa; ). Using the Dvorak technique, a method of determining a tropical cyclone's strength via satellite imagery, the agency gave Mala a rating of T#5.5 which yields an intensity of 189 km/h (117 mph). The JTWC estimated Mala to have been a stronger system, with peak winds of and a pressure of 922 mb (hPa; 27.23 inHg) — equivalent to a Category 4 hurricane on the Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale. Their Dvorak values peaked at T#6.5 or . As the powerful storm approached Myanmar, the combined effects of increasing wind shear and land interaction soon took their toll on Mala. At 0700 UTC on April 29, Mala made landfall just south of Thandwe in Myanmar's Rakhine State as a very severe cyclonic storm. The JTWC estimated winds at this time to have been . Rapid weakening ensued once the cyclone moved onshore. Within