Australia’s Meteorological Bureau said on Tuesday that a La Nia weather event has developed over the Pacific Ocean for the second year in a row that could bring above-average rainfall to the country’s centre, north and east.
La Nia is typically associated with more precipitation, more tropical cyclones, and cooler than average temperatures in the equatorial Pacific Ocean.
Weather phenomenon could boost Australia’s wheat yields. In September, the country raised its wheat forecast for the season by 17 per cent to a record high, citing favorable weather.
Wetter than usual at the end of the year can also result in a less severe bushfire season. “Back-to-back La Nia events are not uncommon, with about half of all previous events returning for a second year,” Andrew Watkins, chief of Operational Climate Services for the Bureau of Meteorology, said in a statement.
Watkins said La Nia events typically last about a year, but climate models suggest this year’s pattern will be short-lived, continuing through the Southern Hemisphere summer or early autumn 2022.
“Every La Nia has different effects, as it is not the only climate driver affecting Australia at any one time,” he said.
United States weather forecasters said last month that La Nia conditions have developed and there is an 87 percent chance of the weather pattern continuing through the December-February period.
Australia’s Meteorological Bureau shifted its La Nia status to ‘watch’ in September and upgraded it to ‘alert’ last month.
Earlier this month a low pressure system brought 50 to 150 mm of rain to parts of the southeast, the most in years, causing flooding in parts of the states of Queensland and inland New South Wales.
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