Greg Porter, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
A freight train of warm water is surging eastward in the tropical Pacific Ocean, kick-starting what is on track to be the strongest El Niño ever observed.
The latest model projections are off the charts. Literally.
If these models prove accurate, it will set off dramatic weather impacts everywhere from California’s coast to the Arctic Ocean.
Most forecast models project Pacific Ocean temperatures to be warmer than the average by at least 3 degrees Celsius by November. For sea surface temperatures across this patch of the central Pacific, even a bump of 1 or 2 degrees Celsius is enough to reshape rainfall, storm tracks and temperatures around the world.
Such an event would surpass the peaks of the 1997-98 and 2015-16 super El Niños, the strongest on record. In those years, ocean surface temperatures were 2.4 and 2.6 degrees Celsius above average, respectively.
Read more at https://www.sfchronicle.com/weather/article/el-nino-weather-pacific-california-22245296.php