
BOM declares La Niña weather event for Aussie summer.
Australian meteorologists have declared a La Niña weather event is now under way, with the country's wettest spring in 10 years to continue into summer.
La Niña is part of a cycle known as the El Niño-southern oscillation, involving a natural shift in ocean temperatures and weather patterns in the Pacific Ocean, bringing high levels of rain, floods and cyclones.
Bureau of Meteorology head of operational climate services Andrew Watkins says the La Niña is expected to persist in eastern, northern and central parts of Australia until at least the end of January 2022.
He says it will bring more rain to river catchments that are already at their capacity.
Australians are being warned to brace for a wet and cool summer after the Bureau of Meteorology officially declared a La Niña weather event 🌧️ pic.twitter.com/Q17xwCLpbG
— Sunrise (@sunriseon7) November 23, 2021
"We have seen a relatively wet spring, it could be our coolest spring since 1999 and it is looking like the wettest spring since 2011," Dr Watkins told reporters in Melbourne on Tuesday.
"Because of the conditions we've seen over the last couple of months, making the landscape very wet, we are at risk of more widespread flooding than usual."
The areas most likely to be hit by heavy rainfall and flooding during the next three months include Queensland, NSW, Victoria and Tasmania.
La Niña also brings a 65 per cent higher chance that parts of the country will see more tropical cyclones than average.
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