In case you missed it, the country’s weather bureau said late on Tuesday that Australia faces a 70 per cent chance of La Nina returning in spring, with a high likelihood of wet conditions over the next three months – not long after massive floods hit the east coast earlier this year.
With La Nina, sea surface temperatures in the eastern Pacific Ocean are cooler than normal, waters in the western tropical Pacific are warmer than normal, water moisture in the air picks up and brings rain to eastern and central Australia.
The three-month climate outlook shows a “high chance of above-average rainfall for most of the eastern two-thirds of the Australian mainland between September and November 2022,” the Bureau of Meteorology said in a climate driver update.
The return of La Nina in spring, which starts in September, comes after devastating floods hit eastern Australia amid relentless heavy rains earlier this year.
“With wet soils, high rivers and full dams, and the outlook for above-average rainfall, elevated flood risk remains for eastern Australia,” the bureau said.
Australia experienced back-to-back La Nina years in 2020 and 2021.
In July, meteorologists put the odds of La Nina returning at 50/50 but a final declaration can’t be made until October or November at the earliest.
If confirmed, 2022 would be the fourth instance of three consecutive La Nina events since records began in 1900.
