El Nio has formed. Forecasters expect a global weather powerhouse.
A long-anticipated and dramatic global climate shift has arrived, federal forecasters said June 11 as they confirmed the start of El Niño conditions.
The announcement also adds to mounting evidence suggesting this El Niño will be unusually strong, potentially supercharging droughts, heavy rainfall events and heat waves. Previous El Niños have led to some of the hottest years on record, such as the record-breaking worldwide average temperature in 2024.
El Niño is part of a larger climate cycle driven by the temperature of water in parts of the Pacific Ocean. The natural climate pattern affects weather planetwide, bringing a mixed bag of conditions across the globe.
The new forecast from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Climate Prediction Center anticipates a "very strong" El Niño. It may grow to rival the strongest El Niño events in historical record dating back to 1950, said the climate center's Michelle L'Heureux in an e-mail to USA TODAY.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/weather-news/articles/el-ni-o-formed-forecasters-130140468.html