El Nino pattern weakening

CANBERRA: The El Nino weather pattern in the Pacific, blamed for severe drought in Australia, is losing intensity and normal rains may return in months, an Australian government climatologist said yesterday.

El Nino events occur at irregular intervals and are caused by a warming of sea temperatures in the Pacific, bringing drought to Australia and eastern parts of Indonesia, but heavy rains to the arid coast of Peru.

Since late November, equatorial sea-surface temperatures have cooled by about 0.1 to 0.4 C, while cold sub-surface waters have moved into the eastern Pacific Ocean.