The Climate Prediction Center Raises the Likelihood of El Niño to 70 Percent
COLLEGE PARK, MD - This month’s El Niño update arrived from the Climate Predication Center today, and data shows there is a 10% increased chance we will see El Niño continue though the upcoming summer and fall.
That makes El Niño conditions for the summer 70 percent, up from a 60 percent chance last month, and a 60 percent chance it will last through autumn, according to Yahoo News.
El Niño is the phenomenon when ocean waters warm and bring California wet winters.
As we've previously reported, the conditions were officially declared for the year in March.
Conditions are being watched especially closely this year, it seems, due to California’s current drought conditions. According to Sacramento’s News10, El Niño was an integral part of two of the wettest years in California history, 1982-83 and 1997-98, and could theoretically do the same again.
A strong El Niño can alter weather patterns and inject more moisture to developing storms, according to News10. Spring has a typically low success rate for forecasting El NIño, but conditions are currently on track for now.
