A gale warning for Tongatapu and ‘Eua was issued by Tonga Meteorological Services this afternoon, 16 October 2024, following heavy rain and flash flood advisory issued earlier today on the situation.
“A trough now lies over the group and it is expected to become active over the areas of Ha'apai,Tongatapu, 'Eua by tonight until Saturday.
“Associated clourds with occasional rain, strong to gale force winds with potential of isolated thunderstorms will affect these vicinities and most parts of the group until this Saturday,” stated the TongaMet forecast.
For Tongatapu and ‘Eua, the forecast for midnight tomorrow is mostly strong to gale force winds, cloudy and overcast with occasional showers.
For Ha’apai the forecast is for moderate winds, cloudy and occasional showers, to heavy occasional rain with thunderstorms tonight.
No warnings are in place for Vava’u and the Niuas.
On Friday very rough seas are forecast for Tele-ki-Tonga and Tele-ki-Tokelau, with east to southeasterly winds of 20-25 knots rising up to 35-40 knots at times.
The strong to gale force winds forecast are marked in purple in the following chart:
