South Africa weather service says El Nino may return in spring

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - An El Nino weather pattern, which brought a scorching drought to southern Africa last year, could return in the spring which usually occurs from August to October, the South African Weather Service said on Friday. "There is currently a forecast from most leading forecasting systems that an El Nino phase may develop during spring this year," the weather service said in its monthly forecast that looks several months ahead. "It is very important to note however that these forecasts tend to be very unreliable this far ahead of time in this specific time period," it said. (Reporting by Ed Stoddard; editing by David Clarke)