Cooler 1999 predicted

climatologists believe it is unlikely that 1999 will be quite as warm as 1998. Figures released by the Australia's Bureau of Meteorology reveal that at 22.54 c , Australia's mean temperature last year was 0.73 c higher than the average temperature between 1961 and 1990. In fact, every year this decade has been hotter than the period between 1961 and 1990.

"Our meteorologists, who are seldom in agreement about anything, at least agree on one thing: the hot weather last year was due in part to the warmth that occurs at the end of an El Nio episode. It is also a result of the culmination of a long-term warming trend that has been evident since the 1950s," said Mary Voice, the head of the National Climate Centre in Melbourne.