Rotuma. During March 19, Rae started to impact Fiji with heavy rain and strong winds as it slowed down and started to move south-westwards, before it passed around to the west of the Yasawa Islands during March 20. The depression continued to move south-westwards for the next 30 hours, before it curved southwards as it started to intensify slowly. During March 22, the JTWC initiated advisories on the system and designated it as Tropical Cyclone 26P, before the FMS named the system Rae later that day, after it had accelerated eastwards. The JTWC and the FMS both estimated during March 23, that the system had peaked with winds of , which made it a Category 2 tropical cyclone on the Australian Scale. At this time, the system was located about to the south of Kadavu in Fiji and had started to move south-eastwards towards higher latitudes. Rae subsequently weakened as it experienced stronger vertical windshear and cooler sea surface temperatures, which caused the system to weaken and lose its tropical characteristics. The system degenerated into a depression during March 24, as it maintained its south-eastwards track, before it dissipated to the south of Niue during the next day. The system impacted Fiji between March 19 - 24, where it caused strong winds and landslides, as well as minor damage to trees, houses and crops. Torrential rain associated with the system helped to ease a drought and caused flooding to be reported across the archipelago. Within the island nation, the floods were responsible for three deaths in flooded rivers, as well as disruption to transport services, water and electricity supplies. Between March 23 - 24, Rae caused strong winds and high seas at the wave rider buoy at Tongatapu, Tonga, where waves of were recorded as the winds changed direction. Other systems On March 15, the precursor shallow tropical depression to Cyclone Ivor developed within the South Pacific convergence zone, about to the northeast of Port Villa in Vanuatu. During that day, the low moved towards the southwest and moved into the Australian region where it developed into Tropical Cyclone Ivor during March 16. Season effects This table lists all the storms that developed in the South Pacific basin during the 1989–90 season. It includes their intensity on the Australian Tropical cyclone intensity scale, duration, name, areas affected, deaths, and damages. |- | || || bgcolor=#|Tropical Depression || bgcolor=#| || bgcolor=#|