4 Apr 2009

Tonga's south expects a storm with onset of Tropical Cyclone Lin

10:29 pm on 4 April 2009

Tonga is bracing for the onset of Tropical Cyclone Lin which is tracking a southeast path towards the country's southern region.

The Fiji Met service has been issuing cyclone warnings for the country and expects Cyclone Lin, which is moving at about 12 knots, to intensify in the next six to twelve hours.

At 11:30 PM local time Lin was about 200 kilometres northwest of the island of Tongatapu.

The cyclone is forecast to pass near Tongatapu around 7AM local time (6AM NZT) tomorrow morning.

As of late Saturday evening, a storm warning was in force for Tongatapu, Ha'apai and E'ua, and a gale warning in force for the Vava'u group.