On 9 January, the Australian
Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) noted the possibility of a tropical low forming within the monsoon trough over the
Gulf of Carpentaria, designating it as 05U. Three days later, the BoM reported that it was developing over the eastern portion of the gulf. However, the low remained weak and moved eastwards, entering the
Coral Sea by 16 January. By the next day, the United States
Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) began monitoring the low, as it was within a favorable environment for further development with good
outflow, low
vertical wind shear, and warm (29–30 °C) sea surface temperatures. Two days later, on 19 January, the JTWC issued a
Tropical Cyclone Formation Alert (TCFA) for the system, as formative banding was wrapping towards its centre. On the morning of 21 January, the BoM started issuing warnings on 05U. By 23 January, the JTWC followed suit, recognizing it as Tropical Cyclone 07P. The next day, the BoM upgraded the disturbance to a Category 1 tropical cyclone on the
Australian scale and
assigned it the name Kirrily. Although Kirrily initially struggled due to vertical wind shear displacing deep convection. The cyclone continued to strengthen as convective
rainbands began to wrap into the system's center, with the system's structure becoming asymmetrical. On 25 January, Kirrily subsequently intensified to a
Category 3 severe tropical cyclone, with estimated maximum 10-minute
sustained winds of , and a central barometric pressure of . The JTWC followed suit the system and upgraded it to a
Category 1 hurricane on the
Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale (SSHWS). As the system turned to the westward, it encountered increased wind shear, prior to make landfall near
Townsville at 22:00
AEST (12:00 UTC) with sustained winds of . Shortly after the landfall, the JTWC discontinued warnings on the system. Later that day, the BoM reported that Kirrily had weakened to a tropical low. However, Kirrily remained traceable, as it moved westwards towards the
Queensland region throughout the rest of January. Towards the end of January, the JTWC began monitoring the remnants of Kirrily for potential regeneration as the system developed a partially exposed
low-level circulation center (LLCC). Early the next day, they issued a TCFA for the remnants as they were expected to redevelop into a tropical cyclone. The remnants later regenerated into a tropical cyclone; the system showed a consolidating LLCC with convective banding and a
central dense overcast (CDO). Since the system only produced near-gale-force winds in the Gulf of Carpentaria, the BoM determined that the low was not expected to redevelop into a tropical cyclone. By 2 February, the JTWC discontinued the issuing of advisories again, as the storm accelerated inland and rapidly decayed further with the rainbands unraveling and warming cloud tops. Kirrily delivered sustained heavy rainfall to large areas of Queensland and the
Northern Territory during its track across the northwest of Queensland, until it was last noted on the BoM tropical cyclone outlooks by the next day. == Impact ==