El Niño may make a comeback

Less than a year after the world said goodbye to one of the strongest El Niños on record, forecasters are predicting the weather pattern may make a comeback.

Climate models indicate the central Pacific Ocean will probably warm over coming months, suggesting neutral conditions or El Niño are the most likely scenarios for the southern hemisphere winter-spring period, Australia's Bureau of Meteorology said on its website. Five models show El Niño thresholds may be reached by mid-to-late winter, it said. Australia's winter starts in June.

The 2015-16 El Niño was the strongest since the record event of 1997-98. The pattern reduced rainfall