The tropical circulation in the Australian/Asian region - November 1991 to April 1992

A summary of the broadscale tropical circulation from November 1991 to April 1992 in the area of analysis responsibility of the Darwin Regional/Specialised Meteorological Centre—that is, from 70°E to the date-line—is presented. The six-month season was characterised by a maturing El Niño event and anomalies typical of this phase of ENSO were observed. In the southern hemisphere the summer monsoon was poorly developed over much of the longitude range, resulting in below average rainfall about tropical Australia. Tropical cyclone activity about Australia and the southwest Pacific was displaced eastward from normal longitudes. In the northern hemisphere, although the northeast monsoon began earlier than usual in some parts, and featured an above-average number of surges, it was generally poorly developed. Rainfall over much of South-East Asia was below average for the six months.