Meteorologists eye rare early season tropical cyclone in Pacific

1	A tropical low over the Solomon Islands may develop into another cyclone.
2	A tropical depression over the Solomon Islands is being watched closely by meteorologists and climate experts alike in case the deep low pressure system forms into a second rare early season cyclone for the region.
3	This month, Cyclone Raquel became the first July cyclone in Australia's eastern region since the satellite era began in the early 1970s.
4	Jess Carey, a spokesman from the Bureau of Meteorology's Queensland office, said there was only about a one in five chance that the low over the islands would develop into a cyclone.
5	Conditions were not yet conducive for the low to form into a cyclone-strength storm but they might be "enhanced" over the weekend or early next week, Mr Carey said.
6	Its direction could be "pretty much any direction on the compass", although at a distance of 2000 kilometres from the Queensland coast it was unlikely to have an impact on the Australia mainland, he said.
7	Naming rights for the event, should it become a cyclone, depended on whether it formed in Australia's eastern zone or Fiji's area of coverage, he said.
8	Should it enter Australia's zone, the storm would be the first clear August cyclone in the satellite era in that region.
9	That, along with Cyclone Raquel, was of particular interest to climatologists, Mr Carey said.