The El Nino weather phenomenon will bring drier winter weather to Indonesia, India, Mexico, Central America and northern Brazil, US government weather forecasters said on Thursday.
In its latest El Nino forecast, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said wetter than average weather would occur in some parts of Ecuador and northern Peru from January through April 2003.
The NOAA
did not elaborate on the impact El Nino is expected to have on those countries during the next few months. The forecasters did say El Nino would last until May 2003, somewhat longer than previously expected.
El Nino is caused when persistently warm temperatures in the Pacific Ocean influence weather patterns around the globe. Forecasters said this year's El Nino will not be as devastating as the one in 1997-98 that killed nearly 25,000 people and caused billions of dollars in damages.
