Tropical Cyclone Ruby has not intensified further as anticipated last night and is still a category 2 system.

However, the Fiji Meteorological Service says this morning, clouds and thunderstorms have started rotating over the weather system with the centre presently located just over the northern tip of New Caledonia.

The Nadi weather office says TC Ruby is bringing a lot of rain with damaging gale to destructive storm force winds (110km/hr gusting to 155km/hr) over New Caledonia.

TC Ruby is expected to further intensify into a category 3 system around midday today to tonight, the weather office said.

It said that the weather system was expected to continue to move East Southeast across New Caledonia, to the far south of Fiji and North of New Zealand, and it was not expected to have any direct threat over the Fiji Group.

“Yet, as the system passes to the far south of Fiji, expect the northerly wind flow to be dominating over the group from Thursday. Typically, when northerly wind flows are over Fiji, it brings humid conditions, heavy rain, thunderstorm activity and gusty winds over the group,” Fiji Met said.

These associated weather conditions is expected over Fiji from later on Thursday and ease off on Sunday.

The weather should normalise over Fiji by next week Monday where normal trade showers will dominate again over Fiji.

TC Ruby is expected to exit the Regional Specialized Meteorological Centre (RSMC) Area of Responsibility (AoR) to the far south of Fiji by midday tomorrow.