The low drifted westward, and on 9 December, it made its first landfall in Queensland, before moving over the Gulf of Carpentaria, where more favourable conditions allowed it to re-organise.

At midnight on 13 December, Cyclone Owen made landfall in the Northern Territory, before turning eastward and reaching peak intensity, with sustained winds of 150 km/h (95 mph) and a minimum barometric pressure of 958 hPa (28.3 inHg).

Owen's effects as a severe tropical cyclone were mostly minor; the Northern Territory received only wind gusts and heavy rain, while some roads in remote areas were cut off, and 2,400 residents in Queensland lost electricity.

After making landfall and crossing the Cape York Peninsula for the final time, Owen brought heavy rainfall to Australia that caused massive flash flooding; Halifax, Queensland received 681 mm (26.8 in) of rain.

[3] The system was also located within a very favourable environment for further development, with low levels of vertical wind shear, excellent outflow and sea surface temperatures of around 30–32 °C (86–90 °F).

[8] Three hours later, the system encountered marginally-conductive conditions,[9] and the storm struggled to maintain deep convection and appeared asymmetrical, especially due to increasing westerly wind shear.

[10] Despite marginal conditions, a burgeoning central dense overcast (CDO)[11] formed over the low-level circulation centre, and the system became more symmetrical and began intensifying early on 3 December.

[32][33][34] Just over two hours after Owen was re-designated as a tropical cyclone by the BoM, the storm had already strengthened close to hurricane strength by 1-minute sustained wind speeds (according to estimates using the Dvorak technique), according to the JTWC.

[35] Owen rapidly intensified overnight, from 12 to 13 December, into a low-end Category 3 severe tropical cyclone, while its outer bands hit areas of Queensland and Northern Territory.

[48] Despite this, Owen's 1-minute sustained wind intensity remained the same during its time over the Gulf of Carpentaria,[49][50][51] until the storm started weakening slightly, shortly before landfall.

[52] At around 17:00 UTC on 14 December, Owen made landfall as a Category 3 severe tropical cyclone at the mouth of the Gilbert River, about 85 km (55 mi) south-west of Kowanyama, Queensland.

[57] Shortly afterward, at 09:00 UTC on the same day, the JTWC followed suit and released its own last advisory on the ex-cyclone, as it barely held onto tropical storm intensity, and its shallow bands of convection fragmented.

[1] In a report that was sent to World Meteorological Organization, Papua New Guinea's National Weather Service stated that wind gusts and flooding from the cyclone had caused significant damage across the country's southern coastline.

[60] Leading up to the system's first landfall, Owen caused heavy rainfall at Kirrama Range, Flaggy Creek and Caldwell Tide, which received 349, 286 and 278 mm (13.7, 11.3 and 10.9 in) of rain, respectively.

[7] On 10 December, as Cyclone Owen made its first landfall in Queensland as a post-tropical low, it caused creeks to flood the area around Port Douglas and Ingham.

[69] In Pormpuraaw, Cape York Peninsula, an Emergency Alert Campaign was issued, asking people to warn their neighbours, secure their belongings and seek safe shelter.

[72] Most of the damage was localised; Centre Island automatic weather station recorded gale-force wind gusts for three hours, peaking at 91 km/h (57 mph).

Residents from Bing Bong and King Ash Bay were evacuated to Borrorrola as they were located in the vicinity of where Cyclone Owen made landfall.