The current El Niño climate pattern has now attained “historically strong” status, federal scientists announced Thursday. They also predict that its counterpart La Niña will develop in its place later this year.
Both climate patterns have dramatic effects on weather and climate in the U.S. and around the world. A typical wintertime impact of strong El Niños is ongoing storminess across the southern tier of the U.S., from California to Florida.
The warmth from the strong El Niño, colloquially called a “super El Niño” coupled with climate change, also helped to boost global temperatures in 2023, as the year ended up as the warmest since accurate weather records began in the late 1800s.