Seasonal climate summary southern hemisphere (spring 2004): neutral conditions remain in the tropical Pacific and a warm spring across Australia

Atmospheric and oceanic conditions in the southern hemisphere are reviewed for the 2004 austral spring season. Particular emphasis is given to the Australian and Pacific regions. Similar to winter, sea-surface temperatures remained warm in the central to western Pacific. However, indices of the atmospheric evolution such as the Southern Oscillation Index were more indicative of a neutral El Niño-Southern Oscillation state. Over Australia, this lack of a clear El Niño signal was reflected in the seasonal rainfall deciles, which showed mixed signals with areas of average, below average and above average rainfall across the continent. Though El Niño events are not always associated with drought in Australia, historically they tend to result in drier conditions, especially over northeastern Australia. The most widespread climate signal inAustralia during spring was the widespread maximum temperature anomalies, with nearly every part of Australia recording above average temperatures.