On 24 February 2007, an area of low pressure began consolidating over the Arafura Sea.
By 26 February, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) warning centre in Darwin classified the system as a tropical low with its centre situated 230 km (140 mi) northwest of Nhulunbuy.
Over the following days, the system meandered around the Top End region and showed signs of gradual organisation.
Initial forecasts depicted the low as moving gradually eastward and becoming a significant cyclone over the Gulf of Carpentaria; however, after approaching Milingimbi Island on 1 March, the system doubled back to the west in response to a subtropical ridge over central Australia.
Though overland, the cyclone remained well-organized (a typical occurrence for tropical lows over Top End).
Deep convection blossomed on 2 March, as the system approached the Joseph Bonaparte Gulf.
Owing to favourable upper-level outflow and decreasing wind shear, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) issued a Tropical Cyclone Formation Alert for the system that day.
The agency estimated the formation of a tropical depression, assigning it the identifier 17S, by 00:00 UTC (9:30 a.m. ACST) on 3 March while it was still over land.
Hours later, the low emerged over the Gulf and acquired gale-force winds while situated 75 km (47 mi) south-southeast of Oenpelli.
In light of this, the Darwin warning centre initiated advisories on Tropical Cyclone George, marking the first time since Cyclone Fay in 2004 that the Darwin office named a storm.

George quickly intensified once offshore, with a very small banding eye of approximately 8 km (5.0 mi) in diameter appearing on SSMI satellite imagery, and gained winds of 95 km/h (60 mph) by 18:00 UTC (3:00 a.m. AWST on 4 March).
The system subsequently made landfall in the Kimberley region of Western Australia at that intensity hours later.
Substantial structural degradation took place over land, with the eye feature dissipating, and the BOM estimated the system to have briefly weakened to a tropical low before emerging over the extreme eastern Indian Ocean late on 4 March.
Once offshore, George regained tropical cyclone strength as it moved steadily west away from Australia.
Intensification was slow due to a lack of outflow and increased wind shear.
Over the following few days, most forecast models indicated that George would gradually turn to the south as it rounded the subtropical ridge and possibly strike areas between Exmouth and Onslow by 9 March.
The models continued to indicate this scenario through 6 March, resulting in a high-confidence forecast from the Perth warning centre.

However, on 7 March George took an abrupt, nearly 90 degree left turn through a weakness in the ridge and began moving almost due south.
This turn caught meteorologists almost entirely off-guard, with only the United Kingdom Met Office ensemble model depicting this scenario.
Post-storm reviews of the forecasting failure pointed toward four factors that may have influenced George at the time but were not initialised by the models: the extratropical transition of Cyclone Humba well upstream over the Indian Ocean, a Fujiwhara interaction with Cyclone Jacob to the northwest, the Beta drift effect, and poorly represented monsoonal flow.
Of these factors, the monsoonal flow was determined to have been the main cause in the poor track forecast as models did not capture the degree of influence of these winds on the cyclone.
This resulted in the forecast track for George having the greatest error of any cyclone in the Western Australian region in at least five years.
The average error of 477 km (296 mi) at 48 hours was comparable to the average accuracy of forecasts in the 1980s.

Coinciding with George's turn south was a notable improvement of environmental factors.
Wind shear, previously inhibiting organisation, began to decrease while a nearby upper-level low enhanced the system's outflow.
The favourable condition allowed for an increase in both strength and size, with both the BOM and JTWC estimating the cyclone to have attained hurricane-force winds by
On 24 February 2007, an area of low pressure began consolidating over the Arafura Sea. By 26 February, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) warning centre in Darwin classified the system as a tropical low with its centre situated 230 km (140 mi) northwest of Nhulunbuy. Over the following days, the system meandered around the Top End region and showed signs of gradual organisation. Initial forecasts depicted the low as moving gradually eastward and becoming a significant cyclone over the Gulf of Carpentaria; however, after approaching Milingimbi Island on 1 March, the system doubled back to the west in response to a subtropical ridge over central Australia. Though overland, the cyclone remained well-organized (a typical occurrence for tropical lows over Top End). Deep convection blossomed on 2 March, as the system approached the Joseph Bonaparte Gulf. Owing to favourable upper-level outflow and decreasing wind shear, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) issued a Tropical Cyclone Formation Alert for the system that day. The agency estimated the formation of a tropical depression, assigning it the identifier 17S, by 00:00 UTC (9:30 a.m. ACST) on 3 March while it was still over land. Hours later, the low emerged over the Gulf and acquired gale-force winds while situated 75 km (47 mi) south-southeast of Oenpelli. In light of this, the Darwin warning centre initiated advisories on Tropical Cyclone George, marking the first time since Cyclone Fay in 2004 that the Darwin office named a storm.
George quickly intensified once offshore, with a very small banding eye of approximately 8 km (5.0 mi) in diameter appearing on SSMI satellite imagery, and gained winds of 95 km/h (60 mph) by 18:00 UTC (3:00 a.m. AWST on 4 March). The system subsequently made landfall in the Kimberley region of Western Australia at that intensity hours later. Substantial structural degradation took place over land, with the eye feature dissipating, and the BOM estimated the system to have briefly weakened to a tropical low before emerging over the extreme eastern Indian Ocean late on 4 March. Once offshore, George regained tropical cyclone strength as it moved steadily west away from Australia. Intensification was slow due to a lack of outflow and increased wind shear. Over the following few days, most forecast models indicated that George would gradually turn to the south as it rounded the subtropical ridge and possibly strike areas between Exmouth and Onslow by 9 March. The models continued to indicate this scenario through 6 March, resulting in a high-confidence forecast from the Perth warning centre.
However, on 7 March George took an abrupt, nearly 90 degree left turn through a weakness in the ridge and began moving almost due south. This turn caught meteorologists almost entirely off-guard, with only the United Kingdom Met Office ensemble model depicting this scenario. Post-storm reviews of the forecasting failure pointed toward four factors that may have influenced George at the time but were not initialised by the models: the extratropical transition of Cyclone Humba well upstream over the Indian Ocean, a Fujiwhara interaction with Cyclone Jacob to the northwest, the Beta drift effect, and poorly represented monsoonal flow. Of these factors, the monsoonal flow was determined to have been the main cause in the poor track forecast as models did not capture the degree of influence of these winds on the cyclone. This resulted in the forecast track for George having the greatest error of any cyclone in the Western Australian region in at least five years. The average error of 477 km (296 mi) at 48 hours was comparable to the average accuracy of forecasts in the 1980s.
Coinciding with George's turn south was a notable improvement of environmental factors. Wind shear, previously inhibiting organisation, began to decrease while a nearby upper-level low enhanced the system's outflow. The favourable condition allowed for an increase in both strength and size, with both the BOM and JTWC estimating the cyclone to have attained hurricane-force winds by 
Cyclone George