 On 23 February 2003 , an area of convection that was situated over land for roughly a week emerged over open waters along the northern coast of Australia . The strengthening of a deep , persistent monsoon trough contributed to cyclogenesis , and a low pressure area formed . By 25 February , the low developed a banding feature in which the highest winds were located . Though the storm was located in an area of unfavorable wind shear , the Australian Bureau of Meteorology ( BoM ) began to issue gale warnings on the system at <unk> UTC the next day , while the low was located several hundred miles north @-@ northeast of Port <unk> . The disturbance was initially nearly stationary as it showed signs of organization due to relaxed shear , and at <unk> UTC on 27 February , the Joint Typhoon Warning Center ( JTWC ) designated the storm as Tropical Cyclone Graham , as it had attained 80 km / h ( 50 mph ) 10 @-@ minute maximum sustained winds . The first warning was issued on Graham later that day . 
