NEW YORK, Oct 13 (Reuters) – The U.S. Climate Prediction Center says the chance has increased for weather phenomenon La Nina developing in the coming months in the Northern Hemisphere fall and persist into winter 2016-17.
The government forecaster, in a monthly forecast pegged the chance of La Nina developing this fall at 70 percent, versus a likelihood of neutral conditions forecast last month.
Earlier this year, some forecasts indicated the potential for a La Nina to develop in late summer or early fall, but that did not happen.
The new report says conditions are slightly favored to persist into the winter, and the CPC pegged the chances at 55 percent. The emergence of La Nina would follow a strong El Nino that has dissipated in recent months after wreaking havoc on global crops.
La Nina is characterized by unusually cold ocean temperatures in the equatorial Pacific Ocean and tends to occur unpredictably every two to seven years. Severe occurrences have been linked to floods and droughts.
