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Climate Outlook
AUSTRALIA March - August 2007

Issued: February 2007

The IRI has prepared this experimental Climate Outlook for Australia for March - August 2007. Of relevance in the preparation of this outlook is a likelihood that the present El Nino conditions in the tropical Pacific SSTs, having weakened to only borderline strength, will continue at borderline intensity into only the first month or two of the first forecast period, and then become neutral thereafter. Such tropical Pacific conditions are indicated in the SST predictions on which these climate forecasts are based. See the IRI's ENSO update for a discussion on the ENSO outlook (see IRI Probabilistic ENSO forecast). Warmer than average SSTs are now observed in most of the central and eastern tropical Pacific, while normal to slightly above normal SSTs are found in the western tropical Pacific. Much of the equatorial Indian Ocean has at least slightly above normal SSTs. The northern tropical Atlantic Ocean shows above-average SSTs, and southern tropical Atlantic has near to slightly above normal SSTs (SSTs). The SST anomalies in the Indian Ocean and the tropical Atlantic Ocean are predicted to slowly weaken over the course of the forecast periods. (March-May 2007, April-June 2007, May-July 2007, June-August 2007).

METHODS -

This Outlook was prepared using the following procedures and information:

A) Coupled ocean-atmosphere model predictions of tropical Pacific SST covering the forecast period. Particularly heavy weighting has been given to predictions from the coupled model operated by the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Prediction, Climate Modeling Branch. This model suggests a continuation of near-average conditions during the first forecast season. The forecast for near-neutral conditions is consistent with some, but not all, numerical and statistical forecasts of central and eastern Pacific SSTs.

B) Forecasts of the tropical Indian ocean using a statistical model developed by the IRI.

C) Global atmospheric general circulation model (GCM) predictions of the atmospheric response to the present and predicted sea-surface temperature patterns.

D) Other sources of information include NASA's Seasonal to Interannual Prediction Project (GSFC-NASA) and also seasonal prediction research at COLA.

The procedures, models, and data used to derive this Climate Outlook may be somewhat different from those used by the national meteorological services in the region. Thus, this product may differ from the official forecasts issued in those areas. The Climate Outlook for March - August 2007 is dependent on the accuracy of the SST predictions. For the tropical Pacific, these predictions can be expected to provide useful information, but there is some uncertainty concerning the evolution of SSTs. Spread in global SST predictions is a source of uncertainty in the Outlook provided here. Note that even if perfectly accurate SST forecasts were possible, there would still be uncertainty in the climate forecast due to chaotic internal variability of the atmosphere. These uncertainties are reflected in the probabilities given in the forecast.

It is stressed that the current status of seasonal-to-interannual climate forecasting allows prediction of spatial and temporal averages, and does not fully account for all factors that influence regional and national climate variability. This Outlook is relevant only to seasonal time scales and relatively large areas; local variations should be expected, and variations within the 3-month season should also be expected. For further information concerning this and other guidance products, users are strongly advised to contact their National Meteorological Services.

OUTLOOK -

This Outlook covers four seasons: March-May 2007, April-June 2007, May-July 2007 and June-August 2007. Maps are given showing tercile probabilities of precipitation and temperature. The maps for precipitation indicate the probabilities that the seasonal precipitation will fall into the wettest third of the years (top number), the middle third of the years (middle number), or the driest third of the years (bottom number). The color shading indicates the probability of the most dominant tercile -- that is, the tercile having the highest forecast probability. The color bar alongside the map defines these dominant tercile probability levels. The upper side of the color bar shows the colors used for increasingly strong probabilities when the dominant tercile is the above-normal tercile, while the lower side shows likewise for the below-normal tercile. The gray color indicates an enhanced probability for the near-normal tercile (nearly always limited to 40%). As before, numbers and their associated histograms show the probabilities of the three terciles. In areas with lots of spatial detail, there may not be sufficient room on the map, to allow histograms for each region. In those cases, some idea of the probabilities may be gained from the color alone. A qualitative outlook of climatology ("C") indicates that there is no basis for favoring any particular category. Areas that are marked by "D" represent regions for which less than 3cm of precipitation typically occurs over the season. Otherwise, for example, in the case of a fairly large portion of the northeast coast of Queensland in March-May 2007 (Map A), there is a 15% probability that the precipitation will be in the wettest third of the years, a 35% chance it will be in the near-normal third of the years, and a 50% chance that the precipitation will be in the driest third of the years.

Maps of temperature show expected probabilities that the seasonal temperatures will fall into the warmest third of the years, the middle third of the years, or the coldest third of the years (Map A). The numbers for each region on the temperature maps indicate the probabilities of temperatures to fall in each of the three categories, above-, near-, and below-normal.

An additional precipitation map is provided for the first season indicating probabilities for extreme precipitation anomalies. Extremes are defined as anomalies that fall within the top and bottom 15th percentile of the observed records. A priori, there is a 15% probability of being within the extremely wet category, and a 15% probability of being within the extremely dry category, leaving a 70% probability that the precipitation will not be extreme. The maps indicate areas of increased risk of extreme precipitation totals. Three levels of increased risk are defined: slightly enhanced risk, enhanced risk, and greatly enhanced risk. For slightly enhanced risk, there is a 25-40% probability that precipitation will be within the indicated extreme, i.e. wet or dry. This represents an approximate doubling of the climatological risk. For enhanced risk, there is a 40-50% probability that precipitation will be within the indicated extreme. This represents an approximate tripling of the climatological risk. For greatly enhanced risk, the probability that precipitation will be within the indicated extreme exceeds 50%, i.e. the indicated extreme is the most likely outcome. A similar map is provided in the first season indicating probabilities of extreme temperature anomalies.

Boundaries between sub-regions should be considered as transition zones, and their location considered to be only qualitatively correct.

March-May 2007 through June-August 2007

The following tables summarize the precipitation and temperature probability forecasts:



Summary of PRECIPITATION forecast for Australia
Leads 1, 2, 3, and 4 refer, respectively, to the upcoming seasons: Mar-Apr-May Apr-May-Jun May-Jun-Jul Jun-Jul-Aug
A non-enhanced probability for above or below normal is 33%. (There is a near-normal category whose non-enhanced probability is also 33%.)
The following countries or regions out of the 6 in Australia have at least half of their area under a PRECIPITATION forecast for:
At least At least Substantially slightly slightly Substantially enhanced enhanced enhanced enhanced probability probability probability probability (>48%) for (>38%) for (>38%) for (>48%) for below normal below normal above normal above normal
AUSTR-Western leads 1 and 2
AUSTR-NorthernTerr leads 1,2 and 3
AUSTR-Queensland leads 1,2,3 and 4

Summary of TEMPERATURE forecast for Australia
Leads 1, 2, 3, and 4 refer, respectively, to the upcoming seasons: Mar-Apr-May Apr-May-Jun May-Jun-Jul Jun-Jul-Aug
A non-enhanced probability for above or below normal is 33%. (There is a near-normal category whose non-enhanced probability is also 33%.)
The following countries or regions out of the 6 in Australia have at least half of their area under a TEMPERATURE forecast for:
At least At least Substantially slightly slightly Substantially enhanced enhanced enhanced enhanced probability probability probability probability (>48%) for (>38%) for (>38%) for (>48%) for below normal below normal above normal above normal
NEW ZEALAND leads 2,3 and 4
AUSTR-Western leads 1,2,3 and 4
AUSTR-NorthernTerr leads 1,2,3 and 4
AUSTR-Queensland leads 1,2,3 and 4
AUSTR-South leads 1 and 2
AUSTR-NSW-Vic-Tasm leads 1 and 2


OBSERVED CLIMATOLOGY DATA for Mar-Apr-May, Apr-May-Jun, May-Jun-Jul and Jun-Jul-Aug

CLIMATOLOGICAL AVERAGE:

TERCILE THRESHOLDS (33%-ile & 67%-ile):

EXTREME THRESHOLDS (15%-ile & 85 %-ile):

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