As the southern hemisphere dives into the heart of winter, the tropical waters of the Solomon Islands have been brewing up a storm. Tropical Cyclone Raquel developed near the Solomon Islands in the early hours of Wednesday morning and is forecast to reach Category 2 intensity on Thursday. The system is currently generating wind gusts up to 100 km/h and is expected to affect the Solomon Islands later today or early Thursday morning, bringing heavy rain and damaging wind gusts. Whilst cyclones at this time of year are very uncommon, they're not unheard of. Raquel is the second winter cyclone to be recorded in the region; the first was Ida which developed in 1972. The tropical waters of the region are virtually always warmer than the critical 26.5 degrees needed for cyclogenesis. Raquel is forecast to track south-southwesterly towards the Solomon Islands today. When the system reaches the islands, the effect of landfall and wind shear is expected to weaken the system sometime on Friday. Raquel is not expected to impact Australia, remaining well offshore of Queensland.