 Toward the beginning of January , the Intertropical Convergence Zone ( ITCZ ) remained active across much of the basin , with low pressure and widespread thunderstorms . One such area persisted southeast of Diego Garcia and organized sufficiently to be classified as a tropical disturbance on January 3 . That day , the JTWC issued the first of three tropical cyclone formation alerts , noting the increase in convection . The system moved to the northeast along the southeastern edge of a ridge near the equator , but turned back to the southwest on January 5 . That day , convection increased over the center , after having previously been dislocated due to wind shear . Late on January 5 , the JTWC initiated advisories on Tropical Cyclone 02S , and on the next day , the MFR upgraded the system to Tropical Storm Babiola . The storm accelerated to the southwest and continued to intensity . An irregular eye formed on January 8 , prompting the MFR to upgrade Babiola to tropical cyclone status . The outflow and the eye became more pronounced after further strengthening , and the cyclone attained peak 10 ‑ minute winds of 155 km / h ( 100 mph ) on January 9 . The JTWC , by contrast , estimated peak 1 ‑ minute winds of 165 km / h ( 105 mph ) . 
