Happy Newyear 2017...

Feb 20, 2016:   Tropical Cyclone Winston conditions in Taveuni, Fiji.

Mar 20: Barack Obama becomes the first US President to visit Cuba since 1928, arriving for a 2 day tour.

Tropical Cyclone Winston is strongest ever to hit Fiji

Fiji took a direct hit by Tropical Cyclone Winston over the weekend, the strongest tropical cyclone to strike the island nation. Winston caused "enormous devastation," according to the Fijian Government. Winston remains the equivalent of an extremely dangerous Category 5 hurricane in the eastern Pacific or Atlantic basins.
According to a blog by New Zealand MetService from Saturday afternoon, "Winston is now the strongest tropical cyclone and the first Category 5 [in the Southern Hemisphere] tropical cyclone on record to hit Fiji." The cyclone made landfall about 6:30 p.m. local time on Saturday near Nasau on Fiji's main island of Viti Levu
Prior to striking Viti Levu, 1-minute maximum sustained winds of Winston were estimated by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center to be nearly 300 km/h (185 mph) as the cyclone passed by just south of Taveuni Island.
As Winston continues to pull away from Fiji, conditions will improve and the nation can begin to clean up the destruction left by the dangerous tropical cyclone

Tropical Cyclone Winston conditions in Taveuni, Fiji | 20 02 2016



It has already hit Tonga once, and side-swiped a second time
It's not often that a tropical system makes a U-turn and hits an area twice, but that's exactly what happened with this storm. The first strike on Tonga from Winston left damage behind. According to Matangi Tonga Online, trees and power lines were brought down and homes were damaged in Vava'u, but officials said they haven't confirmed any injuries from the storm's first pass. Hundreds of residents went into shelters during the storm, and hurricane-force wind gusts were reported on the island early Tuesday morning, Matangi Tonga Online also said. "We are thankful there has been no report of lives lost or injuries in all of the islands," Deputy Prime Minister Hon. Siaosi Sovaleni told Parliament.
The cyclone reached its peak intensity on 20 February, with ten-minute sustained winds of 230 km/h (145 mph) and a pressure of 915 hPa (mbar; 27.03 inHg), shortly before making landfall on Viti Levu, Fiji. Thereafter, the storm slowly weakened within a less favourable environment; the system turned southeast during this time, though remained well away from Fiji. It later degenerated into a remnant low, with some subtropical characteristics, on 24 February as it turned to the west and later northwest. The system persisted for more than a week over the Coral Sea before ultimately moving over Queensland, Australia, and dissipating on 3 March, 26 days after being classified a tropical disturbance.
In advance of the storm's arrival in Fiji, numerous shelters were opened, and a nationwide curfew was instituted during the evening of 20 February. Striking Fiji at Category 5 intensity on 20 February, Winston inflicted extensive damage on many islands and killed 44 people. Communications were temporarily lost with at least six islands, with some remaining isolated more than two days after the storm's passage. A total of 40,000 homes were damaged or destroyed and approximately 350,000 people-roughly 40 percent of Fiji's population-were significantly impacted by the storm. Total damage from Winston amounted to FJ$2.98 billion (US$1.4 billion). The nation's government declared a state of emergency on 20 February which remained in place for 60 days. Immediately following the cyclone, the governments of Australia and New Zealand provided logistical support and relief packages. In the following weeks, a coalition of international support, including intergovernmental agencies, brought tens of millions of dollars in aid and hundreds of tons of supplies to residents in Fiji.

Mar 20: Barack Obama becomes the first US President to visit Cuba since 1928, arriving for a 2 day tour.

Obama lands in Cuba as first US president to visit in nearly a century
** First presidential trip to Havana since Calvin Coolidge in 1928.
** Cuban police break up protest before Obama visit
** Barack Obama descended on Cuba with a pomp unmatched by the Pope on Sunday, becoming the first American president to visit Cuba in nearly a century, and the first since a revolution led by Fidel Castro toppled a US-backed strongman in 1959.
**As he arrived, Obama used a Cuban phrase meaning "what's up?" when he tweeted:"Que bola Cuba Just touched down here, looking forward to meeting and hearing directly from the Cuban people."
Barack Obama arrives in Havana on Sunday, marking the start of an historic trip to Cuba, the first by a US president in 88 years. President Obama, his wife Michelle, children Sasha and Malia and the first lady's mother, Marian Robinson, touched down in Havana at 4:20pm ET on Sunday, with the first drops of rain falling as the Obamas walked down the Air Force One steps. The three-day trip is the culmination of a diplomatic thaw announced by Obama and Cuban president Raul Castro in December 2014, ending a cold war-era estrangement that began in 1959.In a meeting with US embassy staff and their families, Obama says 'it's a historic opportunity to engage directly with the Cuban people'.

Joined by first lady Michelle Obama and his two daughters, Obama toured Old Havana by foot, walking gingerly on the slippery wet stones in front of the Havana Cathedral. The downpour notwithstanding, a few hundred people gathered in the square erupted in applause and shouted Obama's name as the first family stepped forward.

For many American journalists, also on their first ever trip to an island just 90 miles from Florida, this is a Berlin wall moment: a step toward liberation worthy of Nelson Mandela, at whose funeral Obama and president Raul Castro famously first shook hands.
Obama and his entourage were whisked off the runway to Melia Habana hotel to meet with U.S. embassy staff before their tour of Old Havana, a family excursion that was ill-fated, given the torrential downpour, but left on the schedule nonetheless as the U.S. president made a symbolic display of solidarity with the Cuban people. Cuban and American flags flew from the president's car as it left the airport in the direction of central Havana