Seasonal climate summary southern hemisphere (spring 2005): A wet and warm season across much of Australia

Atmospheric and oceanic conditions in the southern hemisphere are reviewed for the 2005 austral spring season, with particular emphasis given to the Australian and Pacific regions. The excursion into weak warm conditions in the tropical Pacific in mid-2004 began its return to neutral conditions in winter 2005, with this trend continuing through into spring. Sea-surface temperatures in the tropical Pacific were slightly above average across the central and western equatorial Pacific and cool in the eastern Pacific, representing an overall neutral state. The subtropics of the Indian Ocean, directly to the west of Australia, were consistently cooler than average over the whole season. Wetter than normal rainfall totals were recorded over the majority of the country but despite this, spring 2005 was the third warmest Australian spring observed since monthly records began in 1950, with Queensland, Tasmania and the Northern Territory experiencing their warmest spring on record.