The Samoa Meteorology Division has cautioned the public to be aware that a heavy rain and small craft advisory remains in effect for all of Samoa.

The Samoa Meteorology Division Principal Scientific Officer, Silipa Mulitalo, told the Samoa Observer in an email response that increasing cloud coverage is leading to scattered showers on Tuesday and Wednesday.

"There is an increasing cloud coverage associated with scattered showers on the forecast for today [Tuesday] and tomorrow [Wednesday] with a good chance of a thunderstorm due to a surface winds convergence, rainfall amounts at some areas may reach 30-50mm accumulated in 24 hours,” he said.

"By tomorrow night into Thursday and towards the weekend, winds are expected to strengthen due to a high pressure approaching from the west, that may bring settled weather over Samoa whilst the aforementioned convergence slides away to the northeast.

"For the remainder of the week, rainfall activities will scatter predominantly to the south and eastern districts of larger islands [Upolu and Savai’i] but will be mostly fine weather for north and western divisions."

He further stated that the "heavy rain advisory" remains effective for Tuesday and Wednesday, while the "small crafts advisory" [for fishers] is likely to be enforced for the whole week due to increasing wind speeds and significant waves.

From Tuesday through to Sunday, the convergence zone will linger over the forecast zone with associated rain and gusty conditions through Wednesday. 

The rear flank of the high-pressure system is predicted to again induce strong south-easterly winds by Thursday and push the aforementioned convergence zone northwards. 

This scenario will introduce fresh to strong winds heading to the end of the week, the Meteorology Division added. 

Potential impacts of the heavy rain would include heavy downpours with poor visibility, gusty winds, foggy and slippery roads over mountain passes and ranges.

The small craft advisory remains in effect due to a high-pressure system that is now moving east of New Zealand and continues to direct southeast winds of 35-45 kph across Samoa.