14 Feb 2005

Fiji Met Service monitoring cyclones Olaf and Nancy

12:29 pm on 14 February 2005

The Fiji Meteorological Service says they are monitoring two tropical cyclones in the south Pacific.

Senior Forecaster, Ian Shepherd, says Cyclone Olaf currently lies 800 kilometres north-west of Samoa.

Mr Shepherd says it is a slow-moving system which is expected to affect Samoa within one or two days.

He says the second system, Cyclone Nancy, is to the west of the northern Cook Islands and is expected to move south-east over the next few days and hit the southern Cooks.

Mr Shepherd says at present the two cyclones are moderately weak.

"Nancy has winds up to 50 knots or 60 miles an hour near the centre, with gusts up to 70 knots. They're both expected to intensify slowly, so at this stage even though they are still moderately weak systems, by the time they come closer to any island groups they could be a significant threat in a couple of days time. At present we're just monitoring and advising people what to do with preparation in the longer term."