Fiji is classified as a tropical island that has a wet and dry season. Using
Köeppen's climate classification Am describing a tropical monsoon. Between May and October is the dry season with steady weather in the 80's. The wet season between November and April will bring rain most of the time.
 |
Rainfall during the wet season on Viti Levu.
|
Trade winds that run from the east across the island which draws water from the Pacific Ocean and then takes the water east to west across the island causing the east to get more rain and have more weather than the west.
 |
West side of Viti Levu which looks a lot like the midwest US.
|
The west side gets significantly less rainfall as a result of the mountain range in the center of the island slowing up the movement of the storms carrying rainfall across the island. The precipitation mostly falls before it reaches the mountains leaving nothing to fall along the west side. The extra rain allows for much larger vegetation on the east side making it much more tropical.
 |
East coast of Viti Levu with much larger vegetation of tress.
|
Being in the middle of the ocean near the equator Fiji has seasonal cyclones. The largest problem Fiji faces with cyclones are the resulting storm surges. Water rises flooding and causing the most damage to the city.
 |
Resulting from a storm surge the city cannot drain the water.
|
Sources:
travelblog.org
http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-photo/lewnwdc/11/1315103127/east-side-of-pago-pago-harbor.jpg/tpod.html
http://fijiphotos.net/geo_viti_levu.php
Hi Chad,
ReplyDeleteGreat job on your blog. It is very creative and interesting. I heard great things about Fiji and hope that one day I will be able to go there. Very useful images and explanations. I didn't know that the wet season is that long; from November until April. I would think that it is from October until maybe mid March. Unfortunately many islands that are near the equator face many problems such as floods, hurricanes, cyclones and etc...
So how often cyclones or storm surges happen in Fiji?
Chad,
ReplyDeleteI always thought Fiji was just massive overgrown vegetation! I didn't know a tropical climate could resemble the midwest US. Are the storm surges that bring the cyclones and flooding just during the wet season? Does the city have any draining plan for such massive weathering? I thought your blog was very informative. I hope to visit someday, now i'll know to miss rainy season. Thanks for the pictures and info, great job!
Ben Friedel