Rainfall trends in Fiji

Abstract

In this article we examine trends in rainfall in the Fiji, using records from 14 stations in Fiji. These records cover more stations and significantly longer periods (>90 09years for several stations) than those used in any previous studies. We find that over a period of nearly 100 09years there is high interannual variability but no significant long-term trend in annual rainfall in Fiji in either 18wet-side 19 or 18dry-side 19 stations. This result is consistent with the more restricted results of almost all previous studies. We also find no significant trends in 18wet season 19 and 18dry season 19 rainfall, considered separately. Thus unlike temperature data, rainfall data from Fiji provides little evidence of long-term climate change. There is an indication that the few dry seasons with rainfall more than one standard deviation below the mean have occurred more frequently in the most recent 50 09years than in the previous 50. Our results confirm that there is a significant influence of the El N