The south west Pacific cyclone season is now at its peak says WeatherWatch.co.nz.

The weather news authority says February is often considered the middle of the cyclone season which runs from November to April.

Despite a very weak cyclone named Zaka, forming north east of New Zealand today, the tropics are looking quiet at the moment.

No further cyclones are predicted to form within our satellite map in the coming few days but there is a chance a new cyclone will form near Western Australia.

The low chance of cyclones doesn’t mean a low chance of depressions forming, with some models predicting a new sub-tropical low will affecting northern New Zealand this weekend, bringing more cloud, rain and humidity to the upper North Island.

With the peak of the cyclone season now here that indicates at least two more months of tropical cyclone activity – and with an especially strong La Nina this summer, and therefore much warmer waters to fuel storms north of New Zealand, it’s possible tropical activity will continue until the end of Autumn this year.

WeatherWatch.co.nz says the long range maps used by the weather news authority have been “highly accurate” this summer and the outlook for the next 5 to 7 days still looks fairly stable to our north – but not as stable as the past 5 days have been.

As always we’ll keep you up to date on any new developments.

Image : Another sub-tropical low for northern New Zealand?  GFS models are picking that this Sunday / GFS, Weatherzone