Alright people, buckle up because . Just when you thought you had your summer plans sorted, La Niña’s might be crashing the party for the fourth time in five years. So if you were planning out , you might want to pivot to instead.
But, before you start building an ark or , let’s break down what this means for the rest of your summer. What is La Niña? La Niña is basically a weird ocean cooling that’s messing with our weather. It’s a climate pattern where the Pacific Ocean near South America gets cold, while the waters near Australia warm up like a spa on steroids.
This causes stronger trade winds, pushing more warm, moist air our way. Usually, La Niña forms in winter, peaks in spring, and fizzles out by summer. But not this year.
Why is this La Niña special? This La Niña is rare because it is only the second time in 75 years we’ve seen it form in summer. The Pacific Ocean’s pulled a switcheroo, with the Niño3.4 Index (fancy science speak for ‘how La Niña-y are we?’) dropping to 0.
9 degrees Celsius below average, which can trigger La Niña conditions. What does La Niña mean for your beach plans in Australia? Remember, this La Niña is showing up fashionably late to the party, so it might be weaker and more shorter-lived than usual. But, in the world of weather, anything can happen.
We won’t know for sure if we are in fact experiencing La Niña, till the BoM makes that official. So keep your beach plans flexible and your weather app handy!.
