Tropical Cyclone "Evan" - 18/12/12

MetService News Release

Tuesday, 18 Dec 2012 12:00 a.m.

Tropical Cyclone "Evan"

Evan is moving away to the south of Fiji and the very stormy conditions experienced on Monday in Viti Levu have eased.

MetService expects to take over warning responsibility for Evan on Thursday,when it crosses 25 degrees South latitude. "Evan's current track takes it more or less southwards and it is likely to pass within a few hundred kilometres of northern New Zealand during the weekend," commented MetService Chief Forecaster Peter Kreft.

Evan is very unlikely to be a tropical cyclone by the time of its closest approach to the North Island. But it will have brought a large amount of tropical air into the New Zealand region, which means potential for heavy rainfall in places with strong onshore winds. "Currently, MetService is forecasting rain this weekend for Northland, Auckland and Coromandel," said Kreft.

There is still a lot of conflicting information about Evan's track beyond about Friday. "It is likely to swing away from the North Island into the north Tasman Sea on Sunday, but this is by no means certain," Kreft went on to say. "We're very conscious of the possibility of a track which takes Evan near East Cape. This would be a totally different ball game."

Irrespective of Evan's path through the New Zealand area, Christmas Day is likely to be warm, and probably not windy, in most places. However, it is still a little early to say which - if any - areas might be wet.

Keep up to date with the latest forecasts and any watches/warnings at Metservice.com or on mobile devices at m.metservice.com. You can also follow our updates @metservice on Twitter and MetService TV.

ENDS

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