Most were surprised a cyclone was so quickly spun out of the monsoon which moved over the Northern Territory just before Christmas.
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Thing is, she is not done with yet.
Ellie, or the remnants of the huge weather system, could yet trigger heavy rain right across several states as she pursues an erratic course west and then south across Western Australia.
Weather watchers say the system could then move east across the southern states in the coming weeks.
Some cyclones are windy and wet, Ellie is a wet one.
TC Ellie produced wind gusts of more than 110kmh after it crossed the NT coast on December 22.
It made landfall in the Daly River area, west of Darwin, as a category one system.
She hadn't had enough time after being born in the Timor Sea to reach her full power.
After hitting land, TC Ellie soon lost her official cyclone status and reverted back to being a tropical low.
But she dropped huge amounts of rain in western parts of the Top End and was responsible for triggering showers and storms over the NT and Queensland.
She was also responsible for fuelling the heatwave in the south by funnelling hot air southward.
Timber Creek near the WA border is still in the grips of a flooding emergency after she dumped almost 250mm of rain there in 24 hours.
NT emergency services described it as a "one in a 50-year rain event".
People have been evacuated to a basketball court at Timber Creek from nearby communities.
Bureau of Meteorology forecasts said the former cyclone was now passing over the Barkly region, but would likely be moving back over the Gregory and northern Tanami region later this week, before moving into northern WA.
The NT government immediately declared an emergency.
The declaration grants emergency services special powers which can include the power to direct evacuations from impacted areas.
The Victoria Highway between NT and WA was closed because of flooding and road damage but has been re-opened in the past day.
The Stuart Highway between Barrow Creek and Tennant Creek has also been closed due to flooding.
MORE READING: Heatwave is set to peak.
Tennant Creek has recorded more than 140mm in the past four days.
BOM expects falls of up to 40mm per day on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, with more flooding expected in areas like Timber Creek as a result.
After dallying around central parts of the NT, former TC Ellie is expected to turn northwest today and move into the Kimberley later in the week.
The bureau expects the tropical low could be located close to the west Kimberley coast on Friday and over the weekend.
If it moves over water to the west of Kimberley. Ellie could even roar back into action again as a full blown cyclone.
The system is expected to hover about the North West for days before moving further south-west to Broome.
Broome is forecast to receive some mighty falls from this weekend.
Then Ellie is tipped to move further south into inland WA to reach Kalgoorlie by next Thursday and then move east, likely into South Australia.
Ellie is taking a slow horseshoe shaped trip around Australia and the fascination for weather watchers with all the weather apps at their fingertips, we can all keep track.
Chris McLennan
ACM national rural property writer based in Bacchus Marsh, Victoria. Career journalist. Multi award winner.
ACM national rural property writer based in Bacchus Marsh, Victoria. Career journalist. Multi award winner.
