'Moderate' El Nino could last three months

A “moderate” El Nino weather system has developed in the tropical Pacific Ocean and could create unusual and severe weather patterns around the world, the UN weather agency said today.

The condition, which is linked to warmer surface temperatures in the central and eastern Pacific Ocean during the latter months of the year, is likely to intensify over the next three months but will probably not exceed the “moderate” category, Mark Oliver of the World Meteorological Organisation said.

The effects of El Nino are already being felt in Australia and Indonesia, he said, which are suffering severe drought conditions.

Heavy rainfall in eastern Africa is also likely to be partly to blame on the weather pattern, said Oliver.

The South Asian winter monsoon, which occurs in the coming months, will probably be exacerbated by El Nino, he said, although firm predictions are hard to make.

He added that the comparatively mild hurricane season along the US Atlantic coast is partly linked to the rapid formation of El Nino.