Potentially Record El Niño Forecast Mid-Year

Seasonal climate models forecast the development of a potentially record-strong El Niño pattern starting in the middle of this year, raising concerns about extreme weather worldwide.

The World Meteorological Organization reported high confidence in the onset of El Niño, with further intensification expected in the coming months. Sea surface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific are rising rapidly as subsurface heat moves eastward and ascends, marking the initial stages of the event. El Niño, a natural cycle occurring every two to seven years and lasting nine to 12 months, involves the warming of Pacific Ocean waters that alters global temperature and rainfall patterns.

Experts described the subsurface warm water anomalies as among the largest in historical records, fueling predictions of a possible super El Niño. "It looks like the predictive models are onto something," said Daniel Swain, a climate scientist with the California Institute for Water Resources. "The volume and the intensity... are about as large as we've seen in the historical record." WFLA-TV Chief Meteorologist Jeff Berardelli warned of unprecedented weather. "I think we're going to see weather events that we've...