After enduring weeks of rain, Australians could face months more later this year after the Bureau of Meteorology issued a La Nina warning for Australia.
The alert comes just a month after announcing the end of the meteorological phenomenon opposite to La Niña, El Niño.
The Bureau of Meteorology said that although conditions in the tropical Pacific Ocean are currently neutral, there are some signs that La Niña may form in the Pacific Ocean later in 2024.
“The long-range forecast for June to August shows an increased chance of above-average rainfall across parts of eastern Australia and parts of Western Australia and South Australia.”
Sky News meteorologist Alison Osborne said the Bureau of Meteorology’s La Nina alert means that 50 per cent of the time, a La Nina forms with the current conditions being seen.
Osborne explained that in recent months there had been a cooling of ocean temperatures in the equatorial Pacific.
The Bureau of Meteorology said there are some signs that La Niña could form in the Pacific Ocean later in 2024.
The long-range forecast for June to August shows an increased chance of above-average rainfall in some parts of Australia, the Bureau of Meteorology said.
Typically, La Niña causes a shift in precipitation patterns toward Southeast Asia and Australia.
“During La Niña, these cold ocean temperatures also interact with warm ocean temperatures on the other side of the Pacific and this difference helps strengthen the trade winds.”
He said strengthening trade winds over the warmer waters of the western Pacific generally lead to more rain-bearing systems for Australia.
the girl It usually occurs every three to five years, but can occur for several consecutive years.
Australia had a triple La Niña event in 2020/21, 2021/22 and 2022/23.
This was only the third time in recorded history that the event occurred three years in a row in Australia.
Typically, La Niña causes a shift in precipitation patterns toward Southeast Asia and Australia and a strengthening of equatorial easterly winds.
This results in increased rainfall across most of Australia and areas south of the tropics experiencing cooler daytime temperatures, as well as more tropical cyclones and an earlier start to the monsoon season.
