APCEDI Alert SP/CS Cyclone Jim #8-2006: Cyclone Jim Moves into the Southern Ocean after causing Minor Damage in New Caledonia (Nouvelle Caledonie)

The RSMC-Nadi Tropical Cyclone Centre, the Joint Typhoon Warning Centre and Meteo France continue to issue guidance on Cyclone Jim.

Meteo France has removed all its Level 1 alerts from the land areas but retains a "Pré-alerte" for the Territory and continues to issue a "Bulletin Météorologique Spécial Marine". The "Pré-alerte" for land areas will likely be lifted today. The RSMC-Nadi Tropical Cyclone Centre has lifted its Special Advisory for Vanuatu.

Cyclone Jim is currently 800 km southeast of Noumea and is moving to the south-southeast at 40 km/hr. Cyclone Jim, is currently at Tropical Storm strength and is likely remain at this strength for another 24 hours.

Heavy rains and gales have cleared from all New Caledonia (Nouvelle Caledonie) land areas although seas remain rough. Widespread minor damage has been reported from across the Loyalty Islands (les Iles Loyauté) and parts of Grande Terre. This includes trees down, localised power outages and some minor coastal flooding. Loyalty Islands (les Iles Loyauté). Extensive, up-to-date news on Cyclone Jim from New Caledonia (Nouvelle Caledonie) can be found on the website of main daily newspaper, Les Nouvelles Calédoniennes.

Latest forecasts are now showing Cyclone Jim stalling 1500 km south of Vanuatu and New Caledonia (Nouvelle Caledonie) so both countries should maintain on-going monitoring even after the storm has passed. Should the storm stall both New Caledonia and Vanuatu should expect very rough seas for several days.

The Solomons port of Guadalcanal is now open. Yesterday, SIDT, the AFAP Partner Office in Honiara, reported the grounding of one of the larger Inter-Island Ferries and that several of the larger Solgreen fishing boats, that had been impounded at the wharf for non-payment of tax and NPF, were smashed up by the rough seas.

All interests in Grande Terre, les Iles Loyauté of New Caledonia (Nouvelle Caledonie) and Vanuatu should still continue to closely monitor the situation through the local news media and follow the advice of the Government as the cyclone passes out of the area. While the storm is now moving away from the islands, very rough seas will remain in Southern parts of the country.
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From Meteo France

Le Haut-Commissariat de la République communique : Message émis le : mercredi 1 fevrier à 07h00 (heure locale de Nouméa)

DEBUT DU MESSAGE
Avis d'alerte cyclconique

L'alerte 1 est levée sur les Loyauté.
La pré-alerte est maintenue sur lensemble du territoire mais pourrait etre levée ce jour vers 11 heures.

FIN DU MESSAGE

Les informations météorologiques les plus récentes sont consultables dans la rubriques "Cyclones" du site www.meteo.nc

WTNC01 NWBB 312054
A: BULLETIN METEOROLOGIQUE SPECIAL MARINE NUMERO 009.
B: AVIS DE TEMPETE REDIGE LE 31/01/06 A 20:50 UTC.
C: A 18:00 UTC LE 31/01/06, DEPRESSION TROPICALE FORTE "JIM" :
- CENTREE PAR 24,7 SUD 171,3 EST.
- PRESSION AU CENTRE ESTIMEE A 980 HPA.
- DEPLACEMENT SUD-SUD-EST 21 NOEUDS.
D: VENTS MOYENS ESTIMES A 55 NOEUDS (RAFALES A 82,5 NOEUDS) DANS UN RAYON DE 20 NAUTIQUES AUTOUR DU CENTRE, MER TRES GROSSE. VENTS SUPERIEURS A 46 NOEUDS (RAFALES A 69 NOEUDS) DANS UN RAYON DE 30 NAUTIQUES AUTOUR DU CENTRE, MER TRES GROSSE. VENTS SUPERIEURS A 33 NOEUDS (RAFALES A 50 NOEUDS) DANS UN RAYON ENTRE 30 ET 60 NAUTIQUES DU CENTRE, MER GROSSE.
E: "JIM" POURSUIT SA TRAJECTOIRE SUD-SUD-EST EN S'AFFAIBLISSANT LENTEMENT.
F: POSITIONS PREVUES :
LE 01/02/06 A 0000 UTC : 26,1 SUD 172,1 EST.
LE 01/02/06 A 0600 UTC : 28,0 SUD 172,7 EST.
LE 01/02/06 A 1200 UTC : 30,0 SUD 173,2 EST.
LE 01/02/06 A 1800 UTC : 31,0 SUD 173,0 EST.
LE 02/02/06 A 0000 UTC : 30,8 SUD 171,8 EST.
LE 02/02/06 A 0600 UTC : 29,8 SUD 170,9 EST.
PROCHAIN BULLETIN SPECIAL MARINE LE 01/02/06 A 02:00 UTC.=
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From the RSMC-Nadi Tropical Cyclone Centre

Hurricane Warning 030 issued from RSMC NADI Jan 31/1325 UTC 2006 UTC.

Tropical Cyclone JIM [965hPa] centre was located near 22.9 South 170.2 East at 311200 UTC.
Position poor.
Repeat position 22.9S 170.2E at 311200 UTC.
Cyclone moving southeast at about 16 knots and expected to decelerate further.
Cyclone weakening.
Expect sustained winds of 70 knots close to the centre, decreasing to 60 knots in the next 6 to 12 hours.
Expect winds over 63 knots within 20 nautical miles of centre
over 47 knots within 50 nautical miles of the centre and
over 33 knots within 120 nautical miles of the centre.

Forecast position near 25.2S 172.0E at 010000 UTC and near 26.9S 172.9E at 011200 UTC.

All vessels within 300 nautical miles of centre are requested to send reports every three hours. VOS reporting ships use normal channels. Other vessels Fax plus 679 6720190 or email naditcc at met dot gov dot fj.

This warning cancels and replaces warning 029.
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APCEDI will continue to monitor the progress of this system

Kevin Vang
APCEDI Coordinator
http://www.afap.org/apcedi/

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