“This year, in terms of the IOD, it's just been sitting there in neutral. We've been just watching it, seeing if there's anything developing. At the moment, there's a slight hint that it's looking like it could go a little bit, negative IOD, which would actually increase our chances of some rainfall, but similar to the Pacific Ocean, in the Indian Ocean, that is purely just based on a temperature difference between the Horn of Africa and the waters off the coast of Sumatra.  

 “Again, like the El Nino for La Nina patterns to develop, it's not just the sea surface temperatures that we need there to be in a certain pattern. We also need the trade winds. pressure patterns, and the cloudiness also to come to the party. And that's also not really happening at this point of time either 

In the second episode of our eight-part series Planning for Prosperity, Janine Batters talks with resident BCG climate expert Kate Finger about why sometimes, one climate outcome is predicted, yet what we actually experience, feels like the opposite. 

Kate explains the importance of understanding that climate predictions are based on probabilities and how to decipher these, what is really being predicted for this spring and summer period and all the factors that need to align for us to receive the much talked about spring rains.  

This podcast is sponsored by Action Steel. Visit https://www.actionsteel.com.au/ today 

For more information on chemical storage visit: https://www.actionsteel.com.au/downloads/standard-chemical-sheds-brochure-size-price-guide/  

About Kate Finger 

Kate Finger is a Research Project Manager at BCG. Kate joined BCG in May 2019. Kate believes the work she is a part of is helping to improve the profitability and sustainability of Australian agriculture. Kate holds a Bachelor of Science – Majoring in Agricultural Science and a Masters of Agricultural Sciences specialising in Crop Production from the University of Melbourne. Kate loves horse riding, gardening and hiking. 

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