On 1 December a weak tropical low was identified in the southern part of the Gulf of Carpentaria. The system moved steadily northwest and crossed over the land without any apparent deepening. During the 3rd it moved westward along the fringe of the Northern Territory coast.
Amelia reached cyclonic intensity at 2100 UTC on 4 December as it was moving west southwest through the Timor Sea but weakened below cyclone intensity soon afterwards. During the next two days it moved parallel to the northwest coast, without any significant deepening, and finally dissipated over tropical waters north of Barrow Island on the 8th.
The highest wind reported was 46 km/h at the Scott Reef Automatic Weather Station when the centre was about 65 km east of the station.