Tonga has been lucky, and has so far enjoyed a largely uneventful 2012-13 South Pacific Cyclone Season, although there were cyclone alerts and gale warnings during January.

As the end of February approaches, Tonga is unscathed from cyclones which have tormented the neighbouring Islands of Fiji and Samoa during the current season.

Samoa's deadliest cyclone in 20 years, early last December, Severe Tropical Cyclone Evan, forced thousands into evacuation centres and caused the deaths of 14 people, before moving on to Fiji, causing floods and damaging infrastructure, causing an estimated USD$161million damage in the region.

Tropical Cyclone Evan just off the western coast of Fiji on December 17. (NASA).

Tonga usually expects at least one to two cyclones during the annual South Pacific Wet Season from November to April.

The good news from weather forecasters is that the Tropical Pacific Ocean has cooled over recent months after warmer-than-normal waters were present during mid to late 2012.

Mixed weather

Tonga has experienced inconsistent weather among its different island groups during January.

The Tonga Meteorological Service, at Fua‘amotu, recorded the mean air temperature for the month of January in Tonga was 26.5 °C, which was “0.3 °C cooler than normal”.

However, the mean air temperature for Tongatapu in January was warmer than the rest of the country, Nuku‘alofa measuring 27.2 °C.

The highest maximum temperature for January was recorded was 32.5 °C in Fua‘amotu on January 6, while the lowest was 20.5 °C in Nuku‘alofa and Fua‘amotu on January 22.

Rainfall

Most of the rainfall during the month of January was associated with the many tropical depressions that came across or passed by the group during January and also the South Pacific Convergence Zone extending southwest. Rainfall totals for January indicated that conditions were wetter than normal for stations closer to the SPCZ.

Rainfall for the last three months was below normal for Ha‘apai and Vava‘u, while at the same time above normal for the rest of the country.

The rain forecast for March continues to be "below normal" for Vava‘u, "normal" for Ha‘apai, "below normal" for Nuku‘alofa and "normal-above normal" for the Niuas, Tonga Met reports.