Seasonal climate summary for the southern hemisphere (autumn 2018): a weak La Niña fades, the austral autumn remains warmer and drier

Abstract

This is a summary of the austral autumn 2018 atmospheric circulation patterns and meteorological indices for the southern hemisphere, including an exploration of the season’s rainfall and temperature for the Australian region. The weak La Niña event during summer 2017–18 was in retreat as the southern hemisphere welcomed the austral autumn, and before midseason, it had faded. With the El Niño Southern Oscillation and the Indian Ocean Dipole in neutral phases, their influence on the climate was weakened. Warmer than average sea surface temperatures dominated much of the subtropical South Pacific Ocean and provided favourable conditions for the formation of a rare subtropical cyclone over the southeast Pacific Ocean in May. The southern hemisphere sea ice extent was slightly below the autumn seasonal average. The southern hemisphere overall during autumn was drier and warmer than the seasonal average. The season brought warmer than average temperatures and average rains to parts of the continents of Africa and South America. Australia recorded its fourth-warmest autumn, partly due to an intense, extensive and persistent heatwave, which occurred during the midseason. An extraordinary and record-breaking rainfall event occurred over Tasmania’s southeast, under the influence of a negative Southern Annular Mode. The mainland’s northeastern tropical region was wetter than average as a result of tropical cyclones, which formed during an active monsoon. These areas, however, were in contrast to the rest of the continent, which followed the trend of the previous season and remained drier than average; consequently, rainfall deficiencies emerged across the southern half of Australia, and some areas witnessed an increase in extent and severity of these deficiencies.