The weather pattern that drove record rain and floods in eastern Australia this year has ended, but models suggest it may soon return.
La Niña, the weather pattern that has lashed Australia with record rain and floods for months, has finally ended, according to the Bureau of Meteorology .A climatologist says a third consecutive La Niña could increase the chances of rain for an "already saturated" east coastLa Niña was associated with the devastating flooding in NSW and Queensland earlier this year
The BOM's head of long-range forecasting, Andrew Watkins, said a La Niña watch did not change the outlook of above average rainfall for much of the country over the next few months. "Sea surface temperatures are currently warmer than average for much of the Australian coastline, particularly to the north and west.