Tropical moisture sets its sights on the North Island later this week 💧 Why? Learn about the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO), our climate driver this week. The MJO, a pulse of tropical rain and storms, is more active north of Australia during La Niña events because of warmer than average ocean temperatures. It can spark plumes of tropical moisture that extend down to Aotearoa from time to time, such as on Thursday-Friday this week. >Ben | NIWA Weather

A pulse of Madden-Julian Oscillation is crossing the Pacific; here's what that means for New Zealand... The Madden-Julian Oscillation or MJO is a pulse of tropical rain & cloud that circumnavigates the Earth every 30-60 days on average. It is forecast to cross the Pacific in the next 2 weeks. In the animation, green colors indicate rising air or the convectively active portion of the MJO pulse where low pressure is more likely to be located. Over the last several months, the existence of La Niña

💨 A burst of westerly winds, emanating from north of Papua New Guinea, will supply moisture-rich air to a potential tropical cyclone north of New Caledonia this weekend. It's a result of an active Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO), or a pulse of rain and cloud that circumnavigates the Earth every month or two. Previous research has linked MJO activity in the western Pacific with more favourable environmental conditions for cyclone development. As we detailed months ago in our tropical cyclone out