Active north Australian Monsoon expected to redevelop
The current inactive phase of the Australian Monsoon is forecast by international models to revert to an active phase in the coming week. It is expected that wind surges from both north and south of the Australian tropics will feed into the currently weak monsoon trough located to Australia’s north. This will reinvigorate the monsoon trough, resulting in an increase in windiness and rainfall over parts of northern Australia and the Maritime Continent.
During the current tropical cyclone season, Australia has only observed two tropical cyclones to date: Yvette and Alfred. This is well below the average number of eleven cyclones per season in the Australian region. The southern hemisphere as a whole has only observed eight cyclones this season, well down on the average number to the end of February of around eighteen tropical cyclones. Despite the quiet start to the Australian cyclone season, the risk of tropical low or tropical cyclone formation will increase significantly as the predicted monsoon trough to Australia’s north strengthens.
For more information on any tropical cyclones affecting the Australian region, see the Bureau's current tropical cyclones webpage.
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