Australia Weather News

Top End residents are unlikely to be relieved of the oppressive hot and humid build up conditions until Christmas, because the rain-bringing La Niña weather pattern is unlikely to eventuate in coming months, the Bureau of Meteorology has warned.

La Niña is associated with cooler sea surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean and was expected to bring an early wet season and a higher chance of cyclones in the Top End.

"We did have more patterns in the Pacific Ocean that looked La Niña like even if it wasn't properly developed, we were reasonably confident that would mean a greater than 50 per cent chance of an early onset [of the wet season] but that's now gone away," the bureau's Greg Browning said.

"There's no real strong signal like a strong La Niña that there's going to be a very active wet season, so it will probably be close to average."

Last year's hotter and drier El Niño weather system reduced rainfall and cyclones, and Mr Browning said that as a result there was only one monsoonal burst for the entire wet season.

"It's definitely better than last year; it's hard to say how long it will go but we'll certainly get two or three substantial monsoonal bursts," he said, in what may be small comfort to Territorians.

This year La Niña contributed to Australia's wettest May to September on record.

Often a La Niña pattern can develop after a strong El Niño, but Mr Browning said the waters over the Eastern and Central Pacific Ocean "cooled a bit but then they basically stopped", and have not developed to the strength that is usually seen before La Niña occurs.

"We had the El Niño which does the opposite thing, basically," Mr Browning said.

"Compared to last year we should have a much more active season, but it's hard to say how long the wet season will go."

ABC