The Combined Churches of Warwick will hold a ‘Pray For Rain’ event from 4 pm this Saturday 1 September at the Rotunda in Leslie Park.
All members of the public are welcome.
The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) today released its long-term spring weather outlook for Australia and the news is no surprise – we look to be in for warmer and drier than average conditions over the next three months when spring ‘officially’ arrives on Saturday.
Bureau of Meteorology manager of long range forecasting Dr Andrew Watkins said much of the eastern mainland had experienced an exceptionally dry 2018 and the outlook is not great news for farmers in drought-impacted parts of the country.
“These regions need a lot of rain to break the current drought,” Dr Watkins said.
“Like all Australians, all of us at the Bureau of Meteorology are hoping those affected by the drought will get the rain they need soon.
“Unfortunately, our outlooks show odds favouring a drier and warmer than average spring for many areas.”
“The outlook suggests spring rainfall is likely to be below-average for much of mainland Australia, with strongest chances (above 80 per cent) of a drier-than-average season in southern NSW, Victoria and southwest WA.
“One of Australia’s main climate drivers, the El-Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is currently in a neutral phase, however the Bureau’s ENSO Outlook is at El Niño Watch.
“This means the chances of an El Niño forming in the coming spring are 50%, roughly double the normal chances.
“Traditionally El Niño events result in warmer and drier than average conditions across eastern Australia.
“However, it is important to remember that the strength of an El Niño event doesn’t always translate into the conditions we see.
“For example, in the past we’ve had strong El Niño events accompanied by mild conditions and weaker El Niño events accompanied by severe conditions.
“A number of international models are also predicting a positive Indian Ocean Dipole event could potentially develop during spring which would further exacerbate the drying trend.”
