11 February 2008
An overview of the present climate in the tropical South Pacific Islands, with an outlook for the coming months, to assist in dissemination of climate information in the Pacific region.
Number 89 – February 2008
January’s climate
- South Pacific Convergence Zone (SPCZ) extends from northeast of Papua New Guinea toward Wallis & Futuna, and from the Northern Cook Islands to east of Pitcairn Island
- Tropical cyclone Funa brings high rainfall and winds to parts of northern Fiji with flooding and >1.5m of standing water in places
- Suppressed convection exists from Western to Eastern Kiribati and about the Equator with low rainfall
- Above average temperatures in New Caledonia, Samoa, and Tonga; below average in eastern Australia
El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and seasonal rainfall forecasts
- A moderate–strong La Niña episode is continuing across the entire equatorial Pacific, and the event is expected to persist into theSouthern Hemisphere autumn
- A large area of suppressed convection and average or below average rainfall is very likely along the equatorial Pacific from Western to Eastern Kiribati, including the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Tokelau, Northern Cook Islands, the Tuamotu Archipelago, and the Marquesas Islands
- Enhanced convection is likely to continue along a southwest displaced SPCZ with average or above average rainfall from Vanuatu to Pitcairn Island, including New Caledonia, Fiji, Tonga, Niue, and the Southern Cook Islands
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