Fiji to Be Hit by Another Tropical Cyclone

The South Pacific tropical cyclone season is supposed to end at the end of April, and that’s still three weeks away, which is why cruisers in Fiji are having to batten down for the impending arrival of tropical cyclone Zena.

"Waiting for a hurricane to hit you is a funny feeling," writes Jerry Murphy of the San Diego-based 28-ft Bristol Cutter Destarte. "But that’s what we are doing now in Fiji. The wonderful staff here at Vuda Marina on Viti Levu Island has been hauling smaller boats out of the water, tying bigger boats down, and has deployed the swell barrier at the entrance to the marina. We sailors have been moving everything below that can be removed from our decks, and tying down what’s left as securely as we can. We’ve policed up the area to eliminate debris that could become airborne in high winds. Now we are waiting, listening to the gusting winds and watching the barometer drop. It’s at 1004 millibars now at dinner time, down from 1006 at lunchtime.

"For 3.5 days we’ve been under a very active South Pacific Convergence Zone," continues Murphy. "A burst of northwest monsoon wind from New Guinea has been colliding with a resurgent southeast trade wind, creating a long line of thunderstorms, squalls and rain just over our heads. Two tropical depressions have already gone by, bringing rain and sustained winds in the 30s, with gusts to the 40s. But no real damage. Now we are told that tropical cyclone Zena has deepened and her winds have increased to 65+ knots with gusts likely in the 80-knot range. She’s steaming from Vanuatu toward Fiji, and should pass just south of us tonight around midnight."

Zena shouldn’t be anywhere near as destructive as very powerful tropical cyclone Winston, which tore up parts of Fiji just six weeks ago. But it could still cause a lot of damage, and is expected to pass over much of the area that was so recently devastated.

In other weather news, there was six inches of snow yesterday on the docks at places like Newport, Rhode Island and Martha’s Vineyard. It’s raining this morning in St. Barth. And San Francisco is expecting a ridiculous high of 82 — although rain is expected there on Friday and Saturday.