El Niño has become especially powerful this year, with "super El Niño" conditions now officially taking shape.
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conditions → become → shape
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Climate Prediction Center announced Thursday that the phenomenon, which affects weather and climate around the world, has intensified and continues to strengthen.
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which → announce → world
Its effects through next spring may even be considered historic, the agency said.
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agency → consider → spring
Here's everything to know about El Niño:
What is El Niño?
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Niño → know → Niño
El Niño is a climate pattern defined by warming waters in a specific region of the Pacific Ocean near the equator.
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Niño → define → equator
It occurs every two to seven years and usually lasts between nine and 12 months.
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When El Niño is active, a large portion of the world gets warmer, too.
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portion → get → world
In September, researchers at the University of Chicago predicted that an estimated
worldwide during this year's El Niño, compared with a typical year, because of excessive heat exposure.
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an → predict → exposure
The impacts of El Niño vary in different parts of the world, adjusting hurricane frequencies, altering sea levels, and at times triggering
as well as seasonal snowfall amounts that depart from historical averages.
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that → vary → averages
Fishing and agricultural industries often feel tangible consequences of those changes, as do utilities that depend on rainfall and wind to generate power.
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that → feel → power
A "super" El Niño
Hype has swirled around the phrase "super" El Niño, which describes an El Niño climate pattern that is particularly strong and impactful.
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that → swirl → pattern
It isn't an official term, though, and neither NOAA nor the World Meteorological Organization recognizes it.
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NOAA → recognize → it
Instead, both agencies categorize this year's El Niño as "very strong."
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agencies → categorize → Niño
NOAA determines that an El Niño event is taking place when El Niño conditions are detected in the tropical Pacific for at least a three-month period, five times in a row.
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conditions → determine → row
If sea surface temperatures in that region rise 0.5 degrees Celsius, or more, above average, an El Niño event is declared.
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event → rise → average
As of Nov. 12, sea surface temperature anomalies topped 4 degrees Celsius as El Niño strengthened and its conditions continued to spread, according to NOAA's Climate Prediction Center.
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conditions → top → Center
If temperatures rise to 2 degrees or more above average for five three-month periods in a row, the event will be considered a "very strong" El Niño.
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event → rise → row
Due to the warmer climate, the southern portion of North America tends to experience wetter conditions during an El Niño event, as more frequent storms move in from the Pacific Ocean.
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storms → tend → Ocean
But the northern portion of the continent is likely to see milder weather, with less precipitation through the winter months.
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portion → see → months
In the U.S., southern states should prepare for a stormier winter than usual.
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states → prepare → winter
According to NOAA's
, those areas have higher chances of receiving precipitation in the form of rain or snow.
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areas → accord → rain
El Niño's impact worldwide
The northern portion of South America and central Africa are typically drier through the winter months during El Niño, while Australia and southern Asia also tend to experience drier conditions with less shower and storm activity.
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Australia → tend → activity
Drought risks are elevated in areas where drier weather is expected.
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weather → elevate → areas
Wetter conditions will materialize in certain regions, including eastern Asia and the southern portion of South America, both of which are forecast to receive more precipitation as a result of El Niño.
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both → materialize → Niño
Moisture could potentially help improve drought conditions in some of those areas, but it also carries risks for severe flooding.
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it → help → flooding
El Niño's contrasting impacts on Central and South America have raised concerns this year, as a mix of drought and record precipitation devastated agriculture and prompted multiple countries to declare national emergencies.
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mix → contrast → emergencies
How El Niño affects hurricanes
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Niño → affect → hurricanes
How El Niño affected
in both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans this year was one of the more obvious examples of its influence.
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in → affect → influence
In the Atlantic, an El Niño tends to create conditions that hamper the development of tropical storms, while the opposite set of conditions encourages their formation in the Pacific.
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set → tend → Pacific
It played a key role in the Atlantic basin's
tropical storm and hurricane activity this year, and, at the same time, contributed to the Pacific season's
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.Meteorologists watch for movement of Saharan dust in the atmosphere off the coast of western Africa to predict tropical activity in the Atlantic basin.
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.Meteorologists → watch → basin
When an El Niño climate is present, drier conditions enhance Saharan dust, which decreases the potential for tropical activity.
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which → enhance → activity
In the Pacific, warmer waters caused by El Niño help create the ideal fuel for storm systems to erupt and become tropical storms or hurricanes.
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systems → cause → fuel
In the Western Pacific, where tropical cyclones are referred to as typhoons, these systems are more likely to become hazardous "super typhoons" during El Niño, at times bringing catastrophic impacts to parts of eastern Asia.
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systems → refer → Asia
Weather agencies have tracked 32 typhoons so far in 2026.
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agencies → track → 2026
in April and Super Typhoon Champi in October tied as the strongest typhoons of the year in the Western Pacific, both reaching -equivalent strength with sustained winds of up to 185 mph.
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both → tie → mph
The Eastern Pacific has seen 21 named tropical systems this year.
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Pacific → see → systems
Some brought large waves to the West Coast of the U.S., eroding luxury beaches.
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In the Central Pacific, Hawaii has seen five named tropical systems make close passes, bringing heavy rainfall, strong winds and flash flooding.
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systems → see → rainfall
El Niño's strength often dictates how dramatically it impacts global weather.
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it → dictate → weather
…and 5 more, not listed.
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