As fall approaches, experts are warning about a record-strong El Nino, which some are calling a “super El Nino. This weather pattern could affect temperatures and rainfall around the world and may raise the risk of extreme weather in some regions.
As per TIME , El Nino and its opposite, La Nina, are natural weather patterns that occur in the tropical Pacific Ocean. During an El Nino year, the water in the central and eastern Pacific becomes warmer than normal. During La Nina, the water becomes colder than normal. These changes can affect weather around the world, bringing more storms to some places and drought to others.
As per CNN, El Nino can also affect severe thunderstorms. These storms usually become more active near the Gulf Coast from late fall into winter.
Florida faces a higher risk of severe thunderstorms during El Nino winters, while other parts of the Gulf Coast are usually quieter than normal, according to Michael Tippett, a climate scientist at Columbia University.
As per CNN, no two El Nino winters are exactly the same, but they usually follow some similar weather patterns. El Nino often pushes the jet stream, the band of air that carries storms across the country, farther south than normal. This can bring more storms and wetter, cooler weather to the southern US . At the same time, the northern US can see warmer and drier conditions. During strong El Nino winters, the Northeast also tends to get less snow than usual. The Southeast and southern Plains can also have cooler and wetter weather. Depending on how cold it gets, this can lead to snow, sleet or freezing rain.
