The month of July was quite dry in Nadi with rainfall accumulations very much below average. The average rainfall for Nadi in July is 50 mm but this year the total measurable rain in July for Nadi was 11 mm over 4 rain days. 2 mm of rainfall was recorded on the 9th, 13th and 21st of July while 5 mm of rainfall was recorded on 22nd. These rain days were associated with a series of frontal bands passing over Fiji.
The observed rainfall for July 2014 falls within the 20 to 30 percentile range on average, which means that over any given 10 year period, less than three years would experience rainfall this low. It is worth noting that Lautoka city reported no measurable rain during July, which places it in the lowest percentile range and equal to other years where no rain has fallen during July.
July 2014 was also a cooler than average month with very cold temperatures observed in many places. In Nadi minimum temperatures were up to 5 degrees below the average for July. This was due to cold air pushing over Fiji from the south associated with frontal cloud bands.
The below average rainfall observed coincides with ongoing evolution of a significant El Niño event that is predicted to strengthen during the latter half of 2014 and persisting into early 2015. As a result, rainfall is predicted to be lower than average over coming months also with the SPCZ expected to be located to the north of Fiji for large periods of time.