El Nino seen at least 70 percent likely this year: Australian weather agency

SYDNEY (Reuters) - An El Nino is likely to arrive during 2015, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) said on Tuesday, estimating at least a 70 percent chance of the weather event occurring.

Tropical Pacific Ocean sea surface temperatures are now just shy of El Nino levels, the BOM said.

Large areas of warmer-than-average water below the surface are likely to keep these waters warm for some time, increasing the likelihood of further warming of the tropical Pacific Ocean, the Australian weather bureau said.

(Reporting by Colin Packham; Editing by Himani Sarkar)