From page 6
And, there's some good news:
La Nina may happen after all.
A La Nina effect is the name
given to cooler-than-average
seawater temperatures in the
central Pacific Ocean, which
results in higher-than-average
rainfall across most of the
southern hemisphere (not to
mention severe rainfall and
disruptive weather in the
northern hemisphere).
A La Nina (little girl) is thus the
opposite to the much more
widely known El Nino (little
boy) effect that causes drought
in the southern hemisphere.
All but written off last month,
La Nina now has a 70%
chance of developing during
the remainder of the northern
autumn, according to climate
researchers.
But this La Nina could be
short-lived, and also weak.
Researchers said it was only
slightly favoured to persist
during the upcoming northern
hemisphere winter.
NEWS
And it hasn't happened yet.
Neutral temperature conditions ruled the equatorial
Pacific during September,
according to the report.
Although La Nina hasn't taken
hold, researchers noted that
Pacific sea surface temperatures were cooling in
September and early October.
The atmosphere also was
showing signs it was picking
up on the change, according
to the report. Some of the
things researchers watch for
are changes in the nearsurface and upper-level wind
patterns as well as the
Southern Oscillation Index
and the Equatorial Southern
Oscillation Index.
Those two indeces are used to
track conditions in the east
and central Pacific and over
Indonesia.
Precipitation was also picking
up over Indonesia, another
sign of a La Nina.