 A tropical low that had been centered over land in the Northern Territory's Top End since 27 February started showing signs of development, and the Tropical Cyclone Warning Centre in Darwin initiated tropical cyclone advisories on 2 March while the low was still inland.The Joint Typhoon Warning Center issued a Tropical Cyclone Formation Alert on the system later that day, and designated it Tropical Cyclone 17S the next day as it emerged into water.Later on 3 March, TCWC Darwin upgraded the low to a tropical cyclone, naming it George, the first name used from the Darwin list since Fay in March 2004.