ORLANDO, Fla. – Since last year, it has looked likely El Niño would arrive by the summer of 2026.
Latest climate models col continue to double down that the upcoming El Niño could be among the strongest on recorded history.
In the modern era, since 1950, the strongest El Niño reached 2.5° Celsius above normal. That anomaly is from recording the sea surface temperature in the equatorial Pacific off of the coast of Peru.
To be considered an El Niño, the anomaly must grow to .5° Celsius or greater.
Going back to the late 1800s, the strongest becomes the El Niño of 1877 which was 2.7° Celsius above normal.
The latest European ensembles depict a real chance of eclipsing the El Niño from the late 1800s.
Each red line represents a model member of the European ensemble.