Tropical Cyclone Lola has become the earliest Category 5 tropical cyclone to form in the Southern Hemisphere on record as it bears down on Vanuatu.
Tropical Cyclone Lola first developed on Sunday evening in Fiji’s Area of Responsibility and has since quickly intensified. Just 36 hours after its initial development it is now classified as a Category 5 tropical cyclone, the highest category, with wind speeds of 215km/h, gusting up to 260km/h.
Severe Tropical Cyclone Lola is the earliest Category 5 tropical cyclone to form, not only in the South Pacific basin, but the whole Southern Hemisphere during the Southern Hemisphere season (July to June). The previous record holders are:
Tropical Cyclone Joan in 1975 and Tropical Cyclone Graham in 1991 became Category 5 on the 5th December, both in Australia’s region
In the South West Indian Ocean, the earliest Category 5 (named ‘Very Intense Tropical Cyclones’) was Tropical Cyclone Ambali on December 6th 2019
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