What to expect from this Super El Niño

According to the National Center for Environmental Information, California this year experienced its warmest August on record. But California residents are not alone. August was unusually warm for communities globally. The culprit? A climate phenomenon known as El Niño. These events occur every two to seven years and modify or reverse typical wind patterns in the Pacific. Oftentimes, El Niño leads to extreme or unusual weather events worldwide. Impacts include droughts, wildfires, hurricanes in typically dry locations and more. During a neutral non-El Niño year, winds push warm water away from the South American coast toward Asia and Australia. As these winds push warm water away from the coast, cold ocean water replaces it in a process known as upwelling. This effectively cools the coast and tempers climate, preventing the extreme or atypical weather described above.

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