By The Financial District
Sep 20, 20231 min
Updated: Sep 26, 2023
Australia's weather bureau confirmed that an El Niño weather pattern is underway, bringing hot and dry conditions that pose a severe wildfire season and drought risk, as reported by Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The El Niño forecast comes as the country experiences unseasonal heat, with the weather agency warning of more to come. I Photo: New Matilda Flickr
The announcement, which follows similar confirmations from other weather agencies, comes as the country experiences unseasonal heat, with the weather agency warning of more to come.
Forecaster Karl Braganza said elevated surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean could impact the country until early next year.
"This summer will be hotter than average, and certainly hotter than the last three years," he said.
The El Niño climate pattern occurs on average every two to seven years and usually lasts between nine to 12 months. In July, the UN's World Meteorological Organization declared that El Niño was already underway and said there was a 90% chance that it would continue during the second half of 2023.
El Niño is typically associated with warming ocean surface temperatures in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean.
It can bring severe droughts to Australia, Indonesia, and other parts of southern Asia, coupled with increased rainfall in parts of southern South America, the southern United States, the Horn of Africa, and Central Asia.