 An area of thunderstorms was first spied March 7 near the 150th meridian east and just south of the equator . Over the next several days , the disturbance crossed the equator , moving northward . By March 14 , it was located 190 kilometres ( 120 mi ) east @-@ southeast of Truk . Turning westward , the system became a tropical storm by the afternoon of March 16 . Further intensification was quite slow , and halted upon landfall in Mindanao on March 19 . Extensive property and crop damage , as well as 45 deaths , were attributed to this storm . The cyclone entered the Sulu Sea as a tropical storm , and turned northward as it reached the South China Sea . A turn to the west again occurred , which directed Mamie to a landfall near Nha Trang , Vietnam late on March 24 . Dissipation was complete within a mountainous region on March 25 . 
