Reuters — El Nino weather conditions will continue through the Northern Hemisphere during April-June 2024 with a 62 per cent chance, a U.S. government weather forecaster said on Thursday.
“Above-average sea surface temperatures (SST) across the equatorial Pacific Ocean were indicative of a strong El Nino, with anomalies increasing in the central and east-central Pacific in the past month,” the Climate Prediction Center (U.S. CPC) said.
El Nino is a warming of ocean surface temperatures in the eastern and central Pacific, and can provoke extreme weather phenomena from wildfires to tropical cyclones and prolonged droughts.
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Fifty-six per cent chance of more stable, ENSO neutral weather conditions in late summer and fall U.S. forecasters say
More stable weather due to El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) neutral conditions are likely in the Northern Hemisphere summer of 2025, with a 56 per cent chance in August-October, the U.S. Climate Prediction Center said.
Additionally, there is a 35 per cent chance of this event becoming “historically strong” for the November-January season, the U.S. CPC said.
The naturally occurring phenomenon is already spurring calamities across the globe, with the latest target being the neighbourhoods of Paraguay and Somalia. The stakes are seen higher for emerging markets more exposed to swings in food and energy prices.
In Canada, El Nino’s effects are seen mostly during winters and springs, when it’s associated with milder-than-normal conditions in western, northwestern and central parts of the country.
Generally, according to Environment Canada, El Nino does not significantly impact Eastern Canada — including the Maritimes — but has been associated with reduced tropical cyclone activity in the Atlantic Ocean.
— Reporting for Reuters by Harshit Verma in Bangalore with files from Glacier FarmMedia Network staff.
