Queensland Battered By Cyclone Kirrily's 170 km/h Gusts While Drought and Fog Ravage Other Areas

Tropical Cyclone Kirrily made landfall along the Queensland coast late Thursday evening local time as a strong Category 3 storm, pummeling the coastline with powerful 170 km/h (105 mph) wind gusts and knocking out power to over 34,000 homes and businesses in Townsville in its wake. The cyclone originated earlier in the week as a humble tropical low situated over the warm waters of the Coral Sea northeast of Queensland.

Over the following days, the tropical low gradually gained strength over the balmy sea surface temperatures of the Coral Sea, which average 82-84°F (28-29°C) during the Australian cyclone season. Shower and thunderstorm activity began consolidating around the low-pressure centre by Tuesday morning as environmental conditions become more conducive for tropical cyclone development.

Meteorologists closely monitored the burgeoning low-pressure system via satellite imagery and aircraft reconnaissance as it slowly acquired more tropical characteristics. By Wednesday afternoon, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) designated the low as Tropical Cyclone 18P, indicating that sustained winds reached at least 35 mph.

Newly christened Tropical Cyclone Kirrily subsequently began a period of rapid intensification over the Coral Sea, its winds increasing from 45 mph to over 115 mph in just 30 hours as its satellite presentation blossomed into a healthy and ominous-looking storm.

Kirrily reached Category 2 strength on the Australian tropical cyclone intensity scale by Thursday morning, with sustained winds of 96 mph as the inner eyewall took shape. It continued intensifying through the afternoon and early evening, attaining Category 3 major hurricane status by 3 PM local time Thursday, with peak recorded gusts of 170 km/h—teetering precariously close to the 157 mph (252 km/h) threshold for a Category 4 storm.