Japan reports record Pacific warmth as El Niño persists

The Japan Meteorological Agency reported that sea-surface temperatures in its monitored Pacific region reached 4°C above normal in September, the highest level in records dating to 1949, and forecast that El Niño would persist through the Northern Hemisphere winter. The agency said the September reading exceeded the previous record, set in December 1997. Its bulletin gave a 100% chance that El Niño conditions would continue through winter. The reported temperature and outlook come from the same agency bulletin, repeated in multiple accounts. El Niño is a natural climate pattern in which warmer-than-usual waters develop in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific. The warming can alter winds, atmospheric pressure and rainfall, with effects that vary by region. The Japan agency’s record refers to the Pacific area it monitors; other assessments may use different ocean regions. The pattern’s effects on the United Kingdom and Europe are less direct and harder to predict than in some tropical regions.