South Pacific is heating up with 01F and 91P forming. Significant impact to land possible.
The south Pacific basin is also kicking off with 2 disturbances, invest 90P (01F) and 91P formed on the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) and the former may have a chance to go further, but where will it go is still very uncertain.
Current Storm Information
Invest 90P (01F)
90P was numbered 01F by Fiji in this afternoon. As of 12:00UTC December 9th (00:00 Dec 10 FJT), it was located at 13.2S 178.5W, with maximum 1-minute sustain winds of 30mph and a minimum central pressure of 1004mb. It is expected to move west and approaches 91P, interacting with each other.
Invest 91P
91P was designated by JTWC at 18Z update as well. As of 12:00 UTC December 9th, it was located at 13.5S 171.8E, with maximum winds of 20mph, with a pressure of 1010mb. It is expected to move east, but whether 01F or 91P will become dominate is still uncertain.
Forecast Track
Due to their interaction and long forecast time, how both of them do in the future is still diversified. On one hand, ECMWF suggested that they two will spin clockwise towards each other and combine due to Fujiwhara effect, then gradually move southeast, becoming a rather intense cyclone and impacting Wallis Futuna, and turn southwest then, heading towards New Zealand. On the other hand, GFS suggested that 91P will be the dominant one and absorb 01F, then generally move southwest and becoming an intense cyclone as well, threatening Vanuatu, New Caledonia, later towards New South Wales or Victoria, Australia, which showed a great divergence between models. Force Thirteen will continue to monitor the future movements of 01F and 91P closely, especially it may impact land with a significant intensity.
Elsewhere in the tropics, 03S is in the Australian region and is expected to follow 99S and move southeast, as well as tropical storm Bongoyo which is weakening in the open southwest Indian Ocean.
