MetService News Release
Tropical Cyclone Winston brought severely damaging winds and heavy rain to Fiji yesterday and today, but is fortunately
now heading away to the west. New Zealand will be fairly settled this week, but there will be some rain around for parts
of the South Island.
Fiji was hammered by its first category five tropical cyclone, Winston, through Saturday and into Sunday. Mean wind
speeds of 220km/h were recorded at one of the smaller eastern islands, Vanua Balavu on Saturday morning, before the
weather station dropped out. As Winston tracked westwards over the southern coast of Vanua Levu, mean wind speeds of
194km/h were recorded, but gusts would have been much higher, estimated at over 300km/h. Winston then tracked over the
northern edge of Viti Levu, past the island of Viwa, before heading away to the west.
Meanwhile, New Zealand has been fairly settled this weekend, and with a ridge moving over the North Island on Wednesday
it should continue to stay dry there for most. There will be a fair amount of cloud around, but also plenty of sunshine
in the afternoons, although summertime heating will also generate a few showers.
Monday will be a mostly dry day for the South Island, apart from some morning and evening drizzle in the east. Then a
front begins to spread northwards over the South Island, before stalling over the lower South Island on Thursday and
Friday and weakening. This front will bring various amounts of rain to southern and western areas, with the heavier
falls forecast for Westland and Fiordland.
TC Winston could track towards New Zealand, with some computer models predicting the remnants of Winston to lie to the
north of the country on Friday. “If TC Winston were to track closer to New Zealand next weekend, it would evolve into a
deep mid-latitude low, possibly bringing high swells to the coast, heavy rain, and strong winds to exposed places,” said
Meteorologist Emma Blades. “However, there is still a strong possibility that TC Winston will remain well to the north
of New Zealand, causing little more than some good swell for surfers,” emphasised Ms Blades. MetService will be keeping
a close watch on the situation and will provide the public with accurate information as the situation unfolds.
ENDS