La Nina on the way
La Nina on the way
SINGAPORE (Reuters): A "fairly strong" La Nina is likely to bring heavy rains and possible floods to Southeast Asia, much of it parched for more than a year by El Nino, Singapore weather forecasters said yesterday.
Singapore Meteorological Service spokesman Wong Teo Suan told reporters that La Nina was likely to set in late this year after the El Nino effect had faded.
Both weather phenomena result from abnormal swings in the temperature of the eastern Pacific Ocean.
El Nino -- the boy child so named by Peruvian fishermen because it appears near Christmas in December -- results from a warming of the ocean. Its sister El Nina occurs when the waters cool more than usual.