Transcript
This season regional forecasters had predicted about 10 named cyclones would hit the Pacific but in the end only two tropical depressions developed into cyclones that impacted on the island countries.
In February there was Cyclone Bart, and in April Cyclone Cook.
Samoa meteorology's assistant chief executive, Mulipola Ta'inau Ausetalia Titimaea, says having just two cyclones in a season is unprecedented and requires more analysis.
"This is one of the issues that I will raise with New Zealand and Australian centers and also the National Climate and Environment Centre in Hawaii, that this is a unique season with just only two tropical cyclones that was developed for the whole region [and] in history, I have never come across a season as so quiet as this one."
He says that Samoa had predicted fewer cyclones this time around.
"We issued our own press release for tropical cyclone season last year and there were three basic areas where we looked at. That the vulnerability of Samoa would be much lower than the 2015-2016 season because of the correlation towards the end of the El-Nino."
Fiji Meteorological Services director, Ravind Kumar says several significant tropical depressions saw extreme rainfall that caused landslides and flooding in Fiji and Solomon Islands.
But agrees that it was a quiet season for cyclones.
"When we look back in the seasons in history, the season where we saw two named cyclones that formed within Fiji's area of responsibility was the 1994-1995 season."
But says tropical cyclones are still known to form in May.
"We could expect rapid fluctuations in weather from one month to the other and we have seen in the past that this weather has formed outside of the wet season. Therefore we are asking all our communities to remain alert and pay close attention to all forecasts and weather advisories when they are issued."
New Zealand's MetService spokesperson, Lisa Murray says they'll still monitoring the region closely.
"There were about 20 depressions in total. Winds about 25 knots or so. And two were named in the end, that was tropical cyclone Bart and tropical cyclone Cook. We also have another depression still up there forming near the Solomon Islands."
Lisa Murray says that it's still early days yet.
"And it has the potential to become a tropical cyclone later this week but at the moment it is a bit far out to know exactly how that potential is. But we are monitoring that still and the reason is because with the high at the start of the season, the season seems to have extended a little bit, this year. So although the season is officially over we are still watching it cos there still could be some developments up there."
While the dry season now officially gets underway, Solomon Islanders are urged to still be on the alert.
