Tropical Cyclone Dovi Moves Toward New Zealand

Tropical Cyclone Dovi moved toward New Zealand on Friday morning. At 10:00 a.m. EST on Friday the center of Tropical Cyclone Dovi was located at latitude 30.0°S and longitude 166.3°E which put it about 780 miles (1200 km) northwest of Auckland, New Zealand. Dovi was moving toward the south at 24 m.p.h. (39 km/h). The maximum sustained wind speed was 80 m.p.h. (130 km/h) and there were wind gusts to 100 m.p.h. (160 km/h). The minimum surface pressure was 969 mb.

Tropical Cyclone Dovi was located between New Caledonia and New Zealand on Friday morning. There was an eye with a diameter of 25 miles (40 km) at the center of Dovi’s circulation. The eye was surrounded by a broken ring of thunderstorms. The strongest thunderstorms were occurring in the eastern half of the ring. There were breaks in the northwestern part of the ring of storms. Bands of showers and thunderstorms were revolving around the core of Tropical Cyclone Dovi. Storms near the core generated upper level divergence that pumped mass away to the southeast of the tropical cyclone. Winds to hurricane/typhoon force extended out 50 miles (80 km) from the center of Dovi. Winds to tropical storm force extended out 250 miles (400 km) from the center of circulation.

Tropical Cyclone Dovi will move into an environment that is unfavorable for a tropical cyclone. Dovi will move over water where the Sea Surface Temperatures are near 23˚C. An upper level trough centered east of Australia will produce strong northwesterly winds that will blow toward the top of Dovi’s circulation. Those winds will cause strong vertical wind shear. The combination of colder water and strong vertical wind shear will cause Tropical Cyclone Dovi to make a transition to a strong extratropical cyclone.

The upper level trough east of Australia will steer Tropical Cyclone Dovi toward the southeast during the next 36 hours. On its anticipated track Dovi will move across New Zealand during the weekend. Tropical Cyclone Dovi will be a strong extratropical cyclone when it crosses New Zealand. Dovi will bring strong winds and locally heavy rain to parts of New Zealand. The strongest winds and heaviest rain will occur in northern New Zealand.