Heavy rain welcomed in Tonga

NUKU‘ALOFA – Tonga received heavy rainfall this week – a welcome relief to residents after months of enduring unusually dry weather.

For the last seven months since June, Tonga has experienced a drought with significantly below-normal rainfall for Ha‘apai and Tongatapu.

Meteorological Services recorded 5.2mm of rainfall at Fua‘amotu in a 24-hour period.

The 136.4mm rainfall in Vava‘u in 24 hours exceeded the total rainfall for the last two months combined.

Niuafo‘ou recorded 0.4mm, Ha‘apai 2.1mm, while Niuatoputapu recorded no rainfall.

In December Tongatapu received only 24mm of rainfall compared to the average for December of 159mm.

During the six months of drought Ha‘apai has been the worst affected with a 64 per cent rain water deficit compared to its average for the period.

Meanwhile, the Tonga Meteorological Services has maintained an El Nino warning for Tonga, issued since October.

Tonga Met stated that although El Nino-like conditions had weakened recently their current assessments maintained an El Nino warning.

El Nino is a period of unusual weather that occurs every three to seven years and normally lasts for a year. The weather conditions include cooler dry seasons, drier wet seasons and more cyclones.

TongaMet has warned that below average rainfall is likely to continue for the next three months across all islands. It advised the public to use water wisely and to collect rainwater when it does rain.