File:Tropical Cyclone Kirrily over Australia (MODIS 2024-02-04).jpg

English: Ex-Tropical Cyclone Kirrily was dumping heavy rain in northwest Queensland on February 1, 2024, when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired this true-color image. The fading storm carried maximum sustained winds of about 50 mph (80 km/h) near the time this image was acquired. However, its drenching rains added to a severe soaking of the region caused by the storm’s first passage over Queensland in late January.

Kirrily first formed over the Coral Sea northeast of Queensland, Australia on January 21. It strengthened to a Severe Tropical Cyclone carrying maximum sustained winds of about 70 mph (113 km/h) just before landfall between Townsville and Ingham, on the Queensland east coast, on January 25. Local media reported gusts up to 150 km/h (93 mph) as the storm came ashore, placing it as Category 2 on the Australian cyclone scale. It quickly weakened to a tropical low as it moved westward across Queensland. News outlets reported that more than 66,000 people were left without power as the storm came ashore, with more than 48,000 still power-less through the next day.

The storm roamed across Queensland as a rain-filled remnant low between January 25 and February 1. It picked up moisture and began to strengthen as it approached the Gulf of Carpentaria. Kirrily again became a Tropical Cyclone on February 1 as it crossed over the coast to briefly spin over the Gulf of Carpentaria. However, it turned sharply to the southwest and made a second landfall in northeastern Queensland on that same day, about the time this image was captured. ABC News reported that the storm was more intense than expected in the remote areas near the Gulf of Carpentaria. Gale-force winds peaking at 102 km/h (63 mph) were felt on Mornington Island, downing trees and cutting power to many residents, according to the report.

Once on land, Kirrily quickly weakened to a remnant low, but continued to drop intense rain as it traveled southward, roughly traversing the border between Queensland and Northern Territory. Late in the evening on February 3, maximum sustained winds had dropped to 30 mph (48 km/h). The Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) has advised that the storm’s remnants are expected to continue to bring rain and flooding as it travels across New South Wales over the next few days before crossing the coast and moving over the Tasman Sea.