Singapore | Reuters –– In 2009, the El Nino brought the worst drought in four decades to India. It razed wheat fields in Australia and damaged crops across Asia. Food prices surged. A closely watched forecast by Japan on Tuesday confirmed its return this year. A strong El Nino will roil economies that are heavily […] Read more

El Nino has emerged, Asia braces for crop damage

Drier bias seen on horizon for Manitoba
CNS Canada — Warm and dry weather is allowing for a good start to spring seeding in Manitoba, but that dryness could pose problems down the road as its longer-term outlook is also on the dry side, according to meteorologist Drew Lerner. Temperatures on Thursday in Manitoba were hitting levels more normally seen in the […] Read more

Australia beef exports to fall on lower slaughter rate
Sydney | Reuters — Exports of Australian beef are likely to fall faster than previously expected as slaughter rates drop off as a two-year drought eases, threatening to add fuel to a rally in U.S. beef prices. A record slaughter rate has dropped nearly a fifth in the last two weeks, as farmers start to […] Read more
Japan forecaster sees El Nino likely to emerge by summer
Tokyo | Reuters –– Japan’s weather bureau said in its monthly outlook on Friday that the possibility of an El Nino weather pattern forming by summer remains high, but gave no probability forecast. The previous El Nino, which emerged last summer, ended over winter and conditions appear to be normal now, the bureau said. Last […] Read more
U.S. forecaster now sees 70 per cent chance of El Nino summer
New York | Reuters –– A U.S. government weather forecaster on Thursday raised its forecast for the chance of El Nino conditions during the Northern Hemisphere summer to 70 per cent, up from a 60 per cent chance last month, with a 60 per cent chance it lasts through autumn. The Climate Prediction Center, an […] Read more
Ocean warming suggests 50 per cent chance of El Nino
Sydney | Reuters — Recent warming of the Pacific Ocean may signal an El Nino weather event is forming, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology said on Tuesday. Climate models indicate the central tropical Pacific Ocean is likely to continue to warm, with El Nino thresholds to be reached or exceeded by mid-year, the weather bureau […] Read more

It’s getting dry — is it time to worry?
No, says weather expert, but areas across the province are on Bruce Burnett’s watch list
Reading Time: 3 minutes With warm-weather records dropping like flies and bare fields drying out in parts of the province, is there trouble ahead? Don’t worry yet, says Bruce Burnett, weather and crops specialist at the CWB. “I don’t think that this early-spring weather means that we are necessarily headed for a drought,” Burnett said in a March 20 […] Read more
Australia weather bureau says models show low chance of El Nino
Sydney | Reuters –– Weather models show a low chance of an El Nino, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) said Tuesday, after indicators of the climate event eased in recent weeks. El Nino — a warming of sea-surface temperatures in the Pacific — can prompt drought in Southeast Asia and Australia and heavy rains […] Read more
Chance of full-blown El Nino seen fading
CNS Canada –– Despite frequent predictions that an El Nino weather event would unfold in early 2015, a well known weather expert says it’s growing more and more unlikely we will see one anytime soon. “The latest data suggests a weakening trend and even though we have some of the symptoms of El Nino we’re […] Read more

El Nino to bring cold and dry conditions to Prairies
CNS Canada –– While speculation continues to swirl over the impact El Nino will have on North America, one weather expert says it’s still a month or two away from taking shape. “Nino is likely to evolve; until that happens, the warmer and drier bias we normally associate with it won’t be in place,” said […] Read more