Expected La Niña Could Last Through 2020-21 Winter, Says U.S. Climate Center

A U.S. government weather forecaster on Thursday forecast the development of La Niña pattern during the August-October season, and is expected to last through the 2020-21 winter.

There is a chance of about 60% that La Niña will develop during the Northern Hemisphere fall, with a 55% chance the pattern will continue through the winter of 2020-21, the National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center (CPC) said in its monthly forecast.

The La Niña pattern is characterized by unusually cold temperatures in the equatorial Pacific Ocean and linked with floods and drought.

The weather phenomenon last emerged during September-November season in 2017 and lasted through early 2018.

(Reporting by K. Sathya Narayanan in Bengaluru Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Nick Zieminski)