Kingdom of Tonga under threat from Cyclone Ian

It`s the season of tropical storms in the southern Hemisphere and Tonga in Southern Pacific Ocean is under the threat of a powerful Category 4 cyclone named `Ian`. According to our forecast, Tonga`s northern islands (the location of landfall) could witness wind speeds of 130 km with very heavy rain during the next 24 hours.

According to media reports, Shalwin Singh, a forecaster with the Fiji Meteorological Service has said that Tonga`s northern islands would feel the brunt of Ian`s fury. “As the storm tracks south eastwards, we expect the Vava`u Group and the Ha`apai Group to be the worst affected, they will encounter the severe hurricane force winds,” he said.

The forecaster further said, “It is a severe tropical cyclone now and close to its centre we expect the average winds to be up to 90 knots and that is quite significant. We expect hurricane force winds - that is above 65 knots - to be within 20 nautical miles of the centre”. Singh says the capital Nuku`alofa is not directly in Ian`s path but may experience heavy rains and possible flooding.

Tonga which officially known as the Kingdom of Tonga is a Polynesian Sovereign state and archipelago consisting 176 islands with a surface area of about 750 square kilometres and scattered over 700,000 square kilometres of southern Pacific Ocean of which 52 are inhabited by around 103000 people.

By: Skymetweather.com