Tropical Cyclone Lola that was said to be slowly moving across Vanuatu yesterday is not a threat to the Cook Islands.

Cook Islands Meteorological Service operational observer Nathan Tisam confirmed that TC Lola will not affect the Cook Islands.

As of yesterday morning Cook Islands time, Tisam said TC Lola was just to the north east of the coast of Vanuatu and had been a powerful Category 5 system (sustained winds of at least 280 km/h).

By afternoon Lola had been downgraded to a Category 4 storm, but continued to wreak havoc on Vanuatu.

With wind gusts of more than 160 km/h, Lola caused widespread damage to the country's northern provinces.

Tisam said the system was looking to track south towards New Caledonia and was predicted to weaken to a category 1 system by the time it makes landfall by Saturday October 27.

“As mentioned in the TC seasonal outlook, although it's officially not the start of the TC season it is not uncommon for systems to spawn outside of the set period,” he said.

According to Weather Watch New Zealand, TC Lola whilst it moved into Vanuatu as a category 5 tropical cyclone it moved across the country slowly and was now category 4 cyclone.

WeatherWatch.NZ said: “Lola was not only the earliest Category 5 Tropical Cyclone on record for the Pacific Basin – but also the entire Southern Hemisphere.”
And as of yesterday morning TC Lola remained a Category 4 storm but the eyewall collapsed – a sign that the storm has peaked in strength.

TC Lola is expected to lose its cyclone status by Friday as it continues to track south towards NZ and moves over cooler waters.

“It will fall apart this weekend and likely the leftovers will merge with another system in the Tasman Sea. Some severe weather is possible in the upper North Island this Sunday to next Tuesday, but no major storm is in the forecast for New Zealand,” WeatherWatch.NZ further reports.

According to Cook Islands Tropical Cyclone Outlook for the 2023/2024 Season , the country is expected to have 2 to 3 named tropical cyclones with El Niño conditions to continue throughout the summer period.

The tropical cyclone season is from November 1 to April 30, 2024.

Losirene Lacanivalu/Stuff