Data from Australia's Bureau of Meteorology on Tuesday forecast the resurgence of the El Niño weather pattern in the later part of 2012.

In a statement, Australia's weather bureau said an El Niño could return sometime between mid-winter and spring this year in the southern hemisphere.

Often linked to heavy rainfall and droughts, the El Niño weather pattern is a warming of ocean surface temperatures in the eastern and central Pacific.

"Eastern and central tropical Pacific Ocean temperatures have continued to warm over the past fortnight, while trade winds have remained weaker than normal," the weather bureau said.

"Likewise, the Southern Oscillation Index has become more strongly negative over the past month."

Also known as "Little Boy" or "Christ Child," the El Niño weather pattern is a threat to agricultural crops in the Asia-Pacific region as it brings below average rainfall. America, on the other hand, experiences wetter than average weather.

The weather bureau likewise noted that sea surface temperatures in the far eastern equatorial Pacific have been more than 1 degree Celsius warmer than usual in June.

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