Tropical Cyclone “Amos” no threat to Fiji, another tropical depression off the southern Cooks.
NADI: A new tropical cyclone has formed in the South Pacific, north of Fiji.
Fiji Meteorological Service renamed a tropical depression as Cyclone Amos on Thursday.
The storm, currently a category one cyclone, is forecast to track towards Samoa, Wallis and Futuna and northern Tonga.
Wind speeds at the centre are expected to increase to 92kmh by the end of the week and all vessels within 300 nautical miles (555km) have been asked to send reports every three hours to meteorologists in Nadi.
It poses no direct threat to Fiji.
Meteorologist at MetService, Bill Singh, said Amos would likely be a problem for Samoa and the Northern part of Tonga over the weekend.
“If the cyclone moves just south of Samoa, it's going to affect Samoa and probably northern parts of Tonga too. Those two, northern parts of Tonga, Samoa, Wallis and Futuna are probably in its track as the system begins to track eastwards,” he said.
Singh said the New Zealand and Fiji Met services are also monitoring another tropical depression off the southern Cook Islands.
The South Pacific tropical cyclone season has been devastating for Fiji after category five Cyclone Winston, the strongest storm on record in the South Pacific, in February, and Cyclone Zena in April.