SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australia’s weather bureau said on Tuesday the El Nino weather event, associated with hotter, drier weather, was likely to hit during the southern hemisphere spring, between September and November.
El Nino, characterised by elevated sea surface temperatures in the eastern and central Pacific Ocean, is associated with extreme weather phenomena, from wildfires to tropical cyclones and prolonged droughts.
The World Meteorological Organization said last month the weather pattern had emerged in the tropical Pacific for the first time in seven years.
However, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology has yet to match the call and remains on El Nino alert, in place since June. The Bureau said on Monday the criteria for an El Nino alert had historically led to the event 70% of the time.
The Bureau also maintained its long-range forecast of warmer and drier conditions across most of southern and eastern Australia from September to November.
El Nino typically suppresses rain in eastern Australia, which poses a risk to the region’s wheat crop.
(Reporting by Lewis Jackson; Editing by Stephen Coates)
