Since forming late last week, Tropical Cyclone Winston has taken an indirect path, meandering through the Southwest Pacific. Winston impacted parts of Fiji and Tonga as it moved through the area earlier this week, passing north of the island nation of Niue. Now, Winston has doubled back to pose a direct threat to Fiji.
As of the most recent advisory from the Joint Typhoon Warning Center, Winston is located approximately 111 nautical miles east-northeast of Suva, Fiji, with maximum sustained winds at 184 miles per hour (160 knots). It is expected that Winston has reached its peak intensity and will begin to weaken over the next 24 hours as it makes landfall in the northern Fiji islands.
According to a special weather bulletin issued by the Fiji Meteorological Service, damaging winds are expected to impact all Fiji islands; while most of the islands in the Lau Groups, Gau, Wakaya, Koro, Ovalau, and Vanua Levu are expected to be impacted by very destructive hurricane force winds averaging 140 miles per hour.
Pacific Disaster Center is closely monitoring Tropical Cyclone Winston as it approaches Fiji, and will continue to provide decision support and situational awareness products for the duration of the event. Keep up with the latest information via PDC’s Global Hazards Atlas, or with the Disaster Alert mobile application. If you are an emergency manager or humanitarian assistance practitioner and would like access to PDC’s DisasterAWARE platform, click here for more information.
For more information on Tropical Cyclone Winston, click here.
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