Photo: EZEQUIEL BECERRA / AFP / Getty Images
By: EFE Posted 08 Jun 2023, 20:25 pm EDT
The El Niño weather phenomenon has reached the United States againannounced this Thursday the prediction center of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA, in English) of the country.
In its monthly forecast released Thursday, forecasters issued an El Niño advisorynoting that the conditions for it to occur are present and are expected to gradually strengthen in the winter.
This phenomenon is characterized by warmer than average sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern Pacific Ocean near the equatorand it takes place every 2 or 7 years.
NOAA climatologist Michelle L’Heureux said in a statement that, “depending on its intensity, El Niño can cause various effects, such as increased risk of torrential rains and droughts in certain parts of the world“. He also recalled that “climate change can exacerbate or mitigate” its impact, giving rise to new temperature records.
According to NOAA, the influence of El Niño in the US is weak during the summer and increases in late fall through spring. According to this month’s forecast, conditions are expected to be moderate to strong during the fall and winter, resulting in higher humidity from southern California to the Gulf of Mexico coast and drier Northwest Pacific and Ohio Valley.
In addition, in winter there is more chance of temperatures warmer than average in the north of the country.
The anticipated presence of El Niño also caused the 2023 Atlantic and Eastern Pacific Hurricane Outlook released last month by NOAA to highlight the possibility of strong cyclonic activity in the central and eastern Pacific basins.
El Niño forecasts are updated monthly, while the Atlantic hurricane forecast will be renewed in early August.
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