Not much ‘happy talking’ in the south Pacific by Alex Deakin
Another tropical storm has developed in the south Pacific, this is the fifth storm to have formed in the area in the last month.
The southwest Pacific cyclone season runs from October to April and the peak of the season is about now so it is not too surprising that it has been stormy of late. However, what has been unusual has been the location of the storms, with most of them focused on a relatively small area.
Samoa has been affected but it has really been the Cook Islands which have born the brunt of the current spate of cyclones. Meena, Olaf, Nancy and Percy have all hit in some form in the past few weeks causing widespread damage to buildings and infrastructure.
Now it is Rae lurking in the area, this storm has developed from a clutch of thunderstorms which have brought flooding to Fiji in recent days. The good news for the Cooks is that Rae by comparison is a weak storm holding winds of just 50 mph and that he is staying away to the south of the main island of Rartonga, although he may well still bring some heavy downpours and a significant swell.
A slightly more active storm lies off the coast of Queensland. Ingrid packs winds gusting up to 70 mph and she will intensify over the coming days, she needs watching but at the moment she is expected to stay well out at sea.
Moving from the Pacific to the Atlantic where the weather patterns by comparison have been incredibly static. A strong southerly airflow has brought exceptional temperatures to Greenland for a couple of weeks now. The normally icy western coast has seen temperatures as much as 20 Celsius above the average both by day and night.
|
|
