El Niño is officially here, and this one could be a doozy

EnvironmentEl Niño is officially here, and this one could be a doozyAmong the effects predicted: drought in the Pacific Northwest, flooding risk in the South, more Pacific hurricanes, high ocean heat and visits from unusual fish and sharks.Listen to this article with a free account00:0000:00People walk along the Brooklyn Bridge during an extreme heat warning in New York in 2025.Eduardo Munoz / Reuters fileShareAdd NBC News to GoogleJune 11, 2026, 5:36 PM EDTBy Evan BushPrepare for intense heat, drought and some flooding — it’s officially El Niño season, the National Weather Service announced Thursday.Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.This El Niño event could be on par with some of the strongest documented in the past, according to models from the NWS.“There is a 63% chance that we’re looking at a very strong El Niño during the November to January time period that could rank amongst the largest El Niño events in the historical record,” Ariel Cohen, a meteorologist for the NWS in Los Angeles, said at a news conference held by the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, California. “We’re already seeing those warm temperatures lining up.”El Niño is a natural climate pattern that causes warm surface temperatures in the tropical Pacific Ocean. It’s associated with higher average global temperatures, so its effects exacerbate warming from climate change. The pattern is linked to fewer hurricanes in the Atlantic and more in the Pacific.In the U.S., El Niño’s influence is most obvious in the winter, as it shifts the typical flow of the jet stream, the ribbon of air that encircles the Northern Hemisphere and drives weather patterns. The pattern typically pushes the jet stream south.In the Pacific Northwest, that creates dry, warmer-than-usual conditions in winter, which is a concern this year because much of the region is already mired in drought after receiving middling snow. In Southern states, the trend typi...