WesternPacificWeather.com

One death and one missing person is being blamed on Cyclone Zena, a once Category 3 Cyclone (Fiji Scale) that pushed by Fiji overnight Wednesday in to Thursday morning.

Max winds reported in Nadi on the Fiji west coast was 35kts while Suva the capital missed the worst of the storm. The winds were not that intense but the rainfall total has been staggering.

In total over 600mm of precipation in the course of 5 days was reported in Nadi. This is over triple the amount the city gets in the entire course of April on average.

Western Fiji was one of the worst impacted areas. Here schools were been closed this week and much of the region was running on limited power.  Over 3,500 people were moved to evacuation shelters as dozens of homes became submerged from a Tropical depression earlier this week.

Good news is that today dry air is flowing in behind the storm bringing clearer skies to Fiji for the first time in a week. The storm itself is also weakening out quickly as it tracks in to an area of increased wind shear and dry air. Tonga could get some additional rainfall from it but nothing to severe is expected in the forecast.

A much more powerful Cyclone Winston hit Fiji in late February killing 44 and leaving some of the smaller islands completely devastated.

The island nation of Fiji has been getting swamped by heavy rainfall this week with total precipitation numbers nearly tripling the number of average rainfall for the entire month of April.

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Western Fiji is one of the worst hit areas with the city of Nadi taking the brunt of the persistent showers. Here schools have been closed this week and much of the region is running on limited power.  Over 3,500 people have been moved to evacuation shelters as dozens of homes became submerged from a Tropical depression earlier this week.

That storm system is over with but another stronger cyclone is now rolling east towards Fiji bringing with it the threat of additional heavy rains.

Tropical Cyclone Zena is now a Category 3 storm (on the Fiji Scale) packing winds at Typhoon strength. This is clearly indicated by a eye now forming at the storms center.

The storm is forecast to pass south of Fiji Wednesday evening through Thursday morning bringing the heaviest rainfall to the west and south of the island. Those on the islands of Viti and Levu should take extra note on the storms track.

The track could still waver and a direct hit from this developing storm would not be nearly as bad as Winston just a few weeks ago but still combined with the flooding already taking place would be a major problem for residents on the island.

Good news is that by the storm passes on Friday it should sweep in dry air from the north bringing much fairer conditions in to the region.

Cyclone Winston hit Fiji in late February killing 44 and leaving some of the smaller islands completely devastated.