Nadarivatu had 22 hours of continuous rainfall in January as Tropical Cyclone Cody passed south-west of Fiji, recording 524.5mm of rainfall, said the Fiji Meteorological Service.
This was the highest rainfall recorded in Nadarivatu in 14 years.
“This new rainfall record is the highest ever recorded by a tipping bucket rain gauge since the installation of this type of rainfall measuring instrument in Fiji in 2008,” said Fiji Met.
“Data obtained from the rain gauge showed there was 22 hours of continuous rainfall from 9am January 8 to 7am January 9.”
Fiji Met said the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency that monitored real-time rainfall also confirmed that a very “high reflectivity spiral rain band” was present over the Nadarivatu area for a long time.
“Heavy flow of water and increased water level at the Nadarivatu Dam, which is not very far away from Nadarivatu, was also an indication of very high rainfall rates.”
