This story by RNZ.co.nz is republished with permission
Tonga’s Meteorological Service has announced that the country has a 45 percent chance for at least one tropical cyclone to happen for the remainder of this cyclone season.
The Tonga Met Service reported that if a cyclone does affect Tonga between late March to mid-April, there’s a 25 percent chance of it being severe, and most likely coming from the Fiji area.
The peak time for the occurrence of tropical cyclones in Tonga is from January to March, with most events occurring in February.
The northern islands of Niuafo’ou and Niuatoputapu experienced heavy rainfall in December that exceeded the averages expected.
In January, heavy rainfall exceeded the averages expected for Tongatapu, Ha’apai and Vava’u.
However, climate models are expecting near normal or below normal rainfall for most of Tonga for the remainder of the tropical cyclone season.
