Originally Posted by
sleddog
Off the news radar, Cat. 5 cyclone YASA has made landfall in the Northern Fijian Islands with gusts exceeding 160 knots and 30 foot storm surge . Fiji is no stranger to cyclones. But apparently this one is off the scale and whole villages have disappeared. In the South West Pacific, YASA is the earliest Cat. 5 cyclone on record, but not the first Cat. 5 in 2020. Cyclone Harold devastated Vanuatu and Fiji last April. Cyclone season in the South Pacific runs November through April.
YASA in this photo is traveling from the NW to the SE (upper left to lower right) and made landfall on Vanua Levu Thursday night. YASA had extreme "rapid intensification," gaining 75 knots of wind speed in 36 hours.
Scientific studies show climate change is causing tropical cyclones to dump heavier rainfall, and intensify more rapidly as sea and air temperatures increase. In addition, some ocean basins are seeing an extension of the storm season, with tropical cyclones forming in regions they did not used to birth in. As a result, Fiji was the first country to ratify the Paris climate accord.
J.H. a 30 foot storm surge will submerge most atolls. This is really bad.
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