The Australian Bureau of Meteorology indicated November 2020 was the hottest on record. Additionally, the Bureau indicated spring 2020 was the warmest on record for minimum and mean temperature. Rainfall was well below normal in many parts of Australia but not as dry as last year. The November 2020 national average temperature was +2.9C according to the Bureau breaking the record of +2.4C in November 2014.

So how did La Nina precipitation climatology (from the past 25 years) for November compare with actual precipitation in the U.S., Australia and South America?

Now that tropical cyclone season is winding down we enter the next persistent issue for meteorological winter 2020-21 which is La Nina storms. La Nina storms produce three types of high impact weather certainly evident in the SUN/MON forecast.

A La Nina climate is normally wetter than normal across northern and eastern Australia. However, November has been dry in these sectors. Contributing to the dryness is the subsidence phase of the Madden Julian oscillation at the tropical longitudes of Australia.