THERE is a 70 per cent the Mid North Coast is in for a drenching this spring with the Bureau of Meteorology raising the possibility of a La Nina event to alert level for the east coast.
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The Bureau's manager of climate operations, Dr Andrew Watkins, said La Nina typically results in above-average winter-spring rainfall for Australia, particularly across most of the eastern, central and northern regions.
"It typically also brings cooler and cloudier days, more tropical cyclones, and an earlier onset of the first rains of the wet season across the north," Dr Watkins said.
"The cooling of surface temperatures in the tropical Pacific Ocean and an increase in the strength of the Pacific Trade Winds indicates the chance of La Nina has risen. When these two changes occur at the same time, at this time of year, we see a greatly increased chance of a La Nina forming and persisting through spring."
The last significant La Nina event was in 2010-11, which was the Australia's wettest two-year period on record beating the previous record from the La Nina years of 1973-74.
The probability of consistent rainfall comes off the back of Port Macquarie's driest year on record in 2019 with drought conditions forcing the region into level 4 water restrictions.
Just 514 millimetres of rain fell on Port Macquarie throughout 2019 and is the lowest recorded amount since 1870.
And with the Bureau of Meteorology figures incomplete for the period between 1853 to 1868, it could be our lowest level since records began in 1840.
The figures for Port Macquarie were mirrored with the national average rainfall total in 2019 of just 277mm, the lowest since consistent national records began in 1900.
The previous record low was 314 mm set during the Federation drought in 1902.
The Bureau will continue monitoring the situation closely.
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