Wind shear
As Gail was developing, the ITCZ spawned another disturbance in the Australian region on February 3. On the next day, it crossed 90° E into the south-west Indian Ocean as a tropical depression. The system intensified into Tropical Storm Heida on February 5 while moving west-southwestward, although the convection never organized beyond a disorganized central dense overcast. The JTWC initiated advisories that day as Tropical Cyclone 11S, and Heida quickly attained peak winds of . Wind shear in the region caused the storm to weaken into a tropical depression, although Heida briefly re-intensified into a tropical storm on February 6. A trough in the region steered the circulation to the south-southwest and increased wind shear, resulting in Heida's dissipation on February 8.