Rain on way according to lead expert

METEOROLOGIST Professor Roger Stone from the University of Southern Queensland is forecasting an above average wet season.

There is a La Nina system developing in the Pacific which is good news for Queensland.

Professor Stone advises the United Nations and others about weather and next week he will visit Richmond and Cloncurry to talk about climate.

Normally he is circumspect when talking to the media. Yesterday he said it looked positive for people in the northern part of Queensland.

“It looks like a fairly active wet season and it could start early,” he said.

In fact there could be some rain around next week. Professor Stone said he hoped the rain would hold off until the sugar harvesting season finished along the coast.

“We have some of the character of La Nina ( usually means rain for Australia) developing in the Pacific,” he said.

“The La Nina usually develops in autumn, not in the spring. But the United States has declared a La Nina watch in the Pacific. It means a decrease in rain for US but an increase for here,” he said.

The Bureau of Meteorology says La Nina ( the girl child) typically means increased rainfall and earlier monsoon onset. It’s opposite the El Nino ( the boy child) usually means reduced rainfall, warmer temperatures and late monsoonal onset.