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Fiji has been placed on a cyclone alert with Tropical Cyclone Tomas now slowly drifting westwards towards Fiji.
Located about 700 kilometres northeast of Udu Point this afternoon, Tomas is expected to curve southwest tomorrow and south as it approaches Fiji on Sunday.
Tomas presently has average winds of 35 knots and momentary gusts of up to 55 knots close to its centre.
However, the Nadi weather office says the cyclone is expected to intensify into a Category 2 storm overnight and may reach Category 3 hurricane status by late tomorrow.
Director Meteorology Rajendra Prasad said that on its current path, Tomas is expected to start affecting Fiji from later on Sunday. However, associated rain and wind bands could arrive by late tomorrow.
Prasad said that at this stage, it appears that the northern and eastern divisions may be more directly affected, but he said this could change.
“Once a hurricane, Tomas may, to a large extent, dictate its own path,” he said.
Prasad said that people should stay on alert and be ready to take full precautions and preparedness action once a warning is issued for specific areas.
A second tropical depression located west of Vanuatu’s Santo island is expected to deepen and form into a tropical cyclone overnight but is not a direct threat to Fiji at this stage because it is expected to drift westwards.
