Why we are all miserable, from The Climate Prediction Center as it was presented on WEWS Channel 2, Nashville:
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BEGIN QUOTE:
“The 2026 El Niño cannot be stopped.
In an
update released Thursday, Aug. 13, national forecasters said the odds that this year’s El Niño will reach the highest strength level – often called a
“super” El Niño – are now higher than 90%.
The climate phenomenon has been gaining steam since it arrived on the scene earlier this summer, and it’s expected to keep building strength through the end of the year. Both El Niño and its counterpart La Niña typically reach peak strength in the winter months.
Sweltering heat dome to hit US: Here’s when, where it could break records
This year, the peak looks likely to come between October and December. During that time frame, there’s a 69% chance this year’s El Niño will become the strongest since 1950, the Climate Prediction Center said.
What would a record-breaking El Niño mean?
For summer weather,
El Niño may fuel a super-hot season — and for some parts of the country, that
has transpired already. The Southeast is also
bracing for a heat dome this week that could break records.
In the late summer and fall, El Niño also tends to suppress storms and hurricanes in the Atlantic. This also appears to be the case this year, which has had a
quiet start to hurricane season.
However, it’s really winter when El Niño makes its mark. When it reaches peak strength in the winter months, it has its largest impact on weather in North America.
El Niño usually brings warmer, dry weather up north and to the Ohio Valley. Meanwhile, the southern half of the country can expect a wetter winter, with more rain and snow. The exact dividing line moves year to year, depending on the position of the jet stream.
High-tide
flooding may be a bigger problem during El Niño years as well, according to the National Weather Service, and especially on the West Coast. Harmful algae have also thrived in West Coast waters during past El Niño events.
The above outcomes are not guaranteed, the Climate Prediction Center said, but they are more likely as El Niño keeps building strength. “Stronger events do not always mean bigger weather and climate impacts. Stronger events make it more likely that certain impacts could occur.”
As of Thursday, national forecasters said El Niño looked likely to last into early 2027.”
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