The impact on Fiji's Vanua Levu Island is likely to be devastating, but major populated areas spared of direct hit.
Radar image of Tropical Cyclone Yasa at 02:30Z December 17, 2020, (9:30 p.m. EST December 16), approximately four hours before it made landfall on Fiji’s Vanua Levu Island. Yasa was undergoing an eyewall replacement cycle, where the inner eyewall was collapsing. (Image credit: Fiji Meteorological Service)
Tropical Cyclone Yasa made landfall on Fiji’s Vanua Levu Island (population 136,000) at 6Z (1 a.m. EST) Thursday, December 17, as a high-end category 4 storm with 145 mph winds, according to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC). Yasa is the second-strongest cyclone on record to make landfall in Fiji, behind Tropical Cyclone Winston, which hit Fiji’s Koro Island as a category 5 storm with 180 mph winds in 2016.