Triple Pacific cyclones may trigger record El Niño
A rare cluster of three tropical cyclones near the equator is pushing warm water eastward, setting up what could be the strongest El Niño in 140 years.
Eight thousand miles southwest of Malibu this morning, a rare cluster of three tropical cyclones is straddling both sides of the equator in the western Pacific.
One scientist calls this potentially the strongest wind burst — pushing from west to east over the equatorial Pacific — in the recent century.
The burst is pushing warm water eastward at a critical moment of the year. It is generating real potential for the strongest El Niño event in 140 years.
University at Albany climate specialist Paul Roundy says the conditions this summer are like they were in 1982 and 1997. Not coincidentally, those were years when some houses along PCH tumbled into the ocean during vicious storms.
The current trio of tropical cyclones are just the latest evidence of an emerging, potentially record El Niño. Roundy says the three hurricanes are pushing warm tropical water eastward across the Pacific, setting up a strong El Niño event. He estimated the setup could cause El Niño to arrive quickly, within one to two months.
The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts shows virtually all of its models expect the world to reach El Niño conditions by mid-June. Roughly half project sea surface temperature anomalies exceeding 2.5 degrees Celsius above average by October.
A strong El Niño would likely significantly reshape global weather patterns, potentially pushing global temperatures to record levels in 2027.