BoM declares the El Niño is over and another La Niña could be on the way

The Bureau of Meteorology has declared the El Niño weather event of 2023-24 to be over, with odds increasing that its cooler counterpart, the La Niña, will return by the coming spring.

For Australia, for much of the country’s east, while La Niñas are associated with wetter than usual weather for northern and eastern parts during the winter-spring period, the bureau said.

The El Niño-Southern Oscillation – which gauges air pressure differences between Darwin and Tahiti – is one of the key drivers affecting global climate.

The US’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, for instance, last week put the odds of a La Niña at about 85% although its thresholds are slightly lower than the bureau’s.

La Niñas typically see a strengthening of the easterly equatorial winds, shifting rainfall patterns towards Australia and south-east Asia.

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