SYDNEY - The chances of a La Nina weather event forming later in 2016 are 50 percent, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) said on Tuesday, as the tropical Pacific Ocean continues to cool.
The bureau had said in May that the strongest El Nino in nearly 20 years - which had damaged crop output in Asia and caused food shortages - had ended. It placed the likelihood of a subsequent La Nina at 50-50, where it remains.
"The tropical Pacific Ocean remains in a neutral El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) state - neither El Nino nor La Nina," the bureau said in a statement on Tuesday.
"International climate models indicate the tropical Pacific Ocean will continue to cool, with six of eight models suggesting La Nina is likely to form during ... (June–August)," it said.
The just-ended El Nino resulted in sea temperatures rising to the highest levels in 19 years, causing drier than average weather and resulting in a fall in palm oil and rice output in Asia.
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Farmers are now looking for development of a La Nina weather pattern, which typically brings wetter weather across Asia.
