SYDNEY (Reuters) – Large swathes of Australia are set for below average rainfall and a greater chance of record temperatures over the next three months, the Bureau of Meteorology said on Thursday, as the El Nino weather phenomenon brings hot, dry conditions.
Below average rainfall is forecast across much of western, southern and northeast Australia, the bureau said in a statement, weeks after declaring the driest September on record.
Temperatures soared to record highs last month and the hot winter weather is likely to continue through to January.
The bureau said it was at least 2.5 times more likely temperatures over the next three months would be among the top 20% recorded for the period between 1982 and 2018.
The forecast was influenced by El Nino, record warm oceans globally, and the positive Indian Ocean Dipole, a reference to differences in surface sea temperature between two parts of the Indian Ocean.
(Reporting by Lewis Jackson; editing by Robert Birsel)
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