Weather: La Nia is here

Australian Meteorological Agency has it officially confirmed: A La Nia event has developed in the Pacific; Global results for the weather are expected. La Nia is the cold sister of El Nio and is part of regularly recurring changes in ocean currents and atmospheric conditions in the Pacific. During La Nia times, cold water masses move along the South American coast and along the equator to the west toward Indonesia, while warmer waters are over Australia than average.

These conditions ensure that it remains very dry along the west coast of South America, while it rains more frequently in Australia. Therefore, the weather authority expects more rainfall in the north, east and center of the fifth continent. Cyclones can also occur more often off the coast. For a drought-stricken country, these are probably not the worst forecasts, even if local flooding does occur. The La Nia event 2021/22 is the second in a row, as it was already dominated by the previous Australian summer. However, there may be such double steps.

Meteorologists, however, expect a weaker event, especially compared to 2010 to 2012. At that time, Australia had major floods. This usually becomes important the following year: good rainfall stimulates vegetation. If another dry season occurs, it dies off and provides a large amount of fuel. After the 2010/11 event, 100 million hectares in Australia went up in flames. This disaster is greater than in the year 2019/20, when, however, many forests were deeply burned, which have not yet recovered.

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For our winters, however, La Nia plays practically no role. “The media have already made haunting statements that La Nia will lead to an icy cold, icy winter in Central Europe, so can be confidently described as a coffee grounds reading.” The German Meteorological Service wrote the relevant announcements last year., In fact there are indications that “normal weather conditions in La Nia actually create a broad, blocked high pressure area over the North Atlantic, on the eastern edge of which we may move into a cold northerly current.” determine. So it can come either way.