A catheter ablation system includes: a catheter probe having distal end including: a temperature sensor; a plurality of irrigation holes; and an ablating electrode; a radiofrequency (RF) heating controller coupled to the catheter probe and configured to supply RF energy to the ablating electrode to control the ablating electrode to emit heat at a target power; an irrigation controller coupled to the catheter probe and configured to supply an irrigation fluid at a continuously adjustable irrigation flow rate through the catheter probe to exit through the irrigation holes; and an operating console having a processor and memory, the memory storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to control the irrigation controller to set the irrigation flow rate based on the target power and a target average temperature.