By late afternoon on 24 December, the sky over the city was heavily overcast, with low clouds, and was experiencing strong rain. Wind gusts increased in strength; between 10p.m. (local time) and midnight, the damage became serious, and residents began to realise that the cyclone would not just pass by the city, but rather over it. On 25 December at around 3:30a.m., Tracy's centre crossed the coast near Fannie Bay. The highest recorded wind gust from the cyclone was , which was recorded around 3:05a.m. at Darwin Airport. The anemometer (wind speed instrument) failed at around 3:10a.m., with the wind vane (wind direction) destroyed after the cyclone's eye. The Bureau of Meteorology's official estimates suggested that Tracy's gusts had reached . The lowest air pressure reading during Tracy was , which was taken at around 4a.m., by a Bureau staff member at Darwin Airport. This was recorded during the eye of the cyclone. From around 6:30a.m., the winds began to ease, with the rainfall ceasing at around 8:30 a.m. After making landfall, Tracy rapidly weakened, dissipating on 26 December.