Ocean Warming Hints at El Nino’s Return
- Share via
Climatologists are monitoring a warming of the Pacific Ocean that they fear could be a harbinger of a new El Nino, the phenomenon that disrupted weather worldwide three years ago and destroyed millions of dollars in property along California’s coast.
Such a warming in the mid-Pacific is now under way, accompanied by heavier than normal rainfall and a shift eastward in the areas of the Pacific with the warmest waters, the U.S. Climate Analysis Center said in a statement issued to meteorologists last week.
“This marks the first time since the early stages of the 1982-83 (El Nino) that the warmest equatorial water has shifted eastward,” the statement added.
But the agency did not predict the onset of an El Nino, and said that despite the mid-Pacific warming, sea temperatures in waters nearer South America appear to be close to normal.
The Climate Analysis Center issued a warning of a potential new El Nino last March, but by June experts said the danger appeared to be shrinking.
Sign up for Essential California
The most important California stories and recommendations in your inbox every morning.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
