El Niño Has Arrived
The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) became the first weather bureau in the world to declare that the El Niño ocean warming in the tropical Pacific has returned.
The phenomenon occurs every few years and causes a variety of weather shifts around the world.
The JMA declaration came as the strongest Pacific storm to strike California since the last El Niño five years ago was roaring onshore.
Various weather agencies around the world have issued conflicting El Niño forecasts over the past few months, but JMA meteorologist Ikuo Yoshikawa said on Dec. 10 that it emerged between June and August.
He added that is likely to continue through the Northern Hemisphere winter.
El Niño frequently brings drought to Indonesia and parts of Australia, and potent winter storms into the western United States.
One is officially declared if the temperature of the western tropical Pacific rises 0.95 degrees Fahrenheit above the long-term average.
The extreme El Niño of 1997-98 saw a rise of more than 5.4 degrees.
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