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Tonga

Update on Tropical Cyclone "Winston" No. 5 (6:30pm, 18 February 2016)

Attachments

Friday, 19 February 2016 05:52

Situation

Tropical Cyclone "Winston", Category 4 (90knots) was located 325km East Southeast of Niuatoputapu or 360km East-Northeast of Neiafu at about 3pm this afternoon. The Cyclone is moving West at 9km/hr (5kts).

Current warnings

A Tropical Cyclone WARNING was issued and upgraded from the previous ALERT status.

A Storm was issued and remains inforce for Vava’u
A Gale warning was issued and remains inforce for Niuatoputapu and Ha’apai
A Gale alert was issued and remains inforce for Niuafo’ou, Tongatapu and ‘Eua.
A Strong wind warning remain inforce for Niuafo’ou, Ha’apai, Tongatapu and ‘Eua.
Heavy damaging swell warnings (>4 meters) remain in force for all Tonga coastal waters.

Forecast

A storm warning was issued and is expected to possibly affect Vava’u in the next 6-12hrs based on this track, Winston is forecast to move west from its turning point and most likely moving in between Vava’u and Niuatoputapu based on the analysis at the moment. In the next 6-12hrs the land areas with the highest probability that would be most likely to be affected are the islands of Vava’u and potentials for Niuatoputapu land areas as well. This forecast will continue to be validated and monitored for the next 12-24hrs upon analysis of the latest settings of our atmosphere and its interactions with TC Winston, but preparation for continued tropical cyclone activity should be ongoing and maintained throughout all communities of our islands.