The worst of Cyclone Cody may be over for Fiji, but there are fears the large weather system could bring severe conditions to New Zealand within the next week.
MetService says the category 1 cyclone is expected to continue moving south-west from Fiji on Tuesday before taking a more southerly track out of the tropics over the coming days.
While there is still uncertainty about which direction the cyclone will travel in and the intensity of its impacts, the forecaster says most computer models show it could track past the East Cape by Sunday or Monday.
"If the system comes close there is the potential for flooding rain, damaging winds and coastal inundation," MetService warns.
"Regardless of whether the cyclone does pass near to New Zealand, it is likely that a period of large waves will impact parts of the east coast of the North Island."
On Monday, WeatherWatch said there was a 60 percent chance of Cyclone Cody hitting North Island beaches in a week's time.
"Currently there's a 40 percent chance of Cody's remnants impacting New Zealand's weather in a week and a 60 percent chance of it impacting North Island beaches (increased rips/currents/swells)," WeatherWatch says.
The update comes not long after Cyclone Cody departed from Fiji. At 7am on Tuesday (NZ time), it was located around 480km southwest of Nadi, MetService says.
Earlier, emergency management authorities in Fiji said lingering heavy rain from Cody was still a high risk to the Pacific nation.
The storm had already killed one person in Fiji and brought widespread flooding, forcing nearly 2000 people to evacuate their homes.
