El Niño Expected to Develop by Mid-2026, Says WMO
The World Meteorological Organization forecasts the onset of El Niño conditions between May and July 2026, potentially leading to significant global temperature increases and altered rainfall patterns.
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has announced that El Niño conditions are likely to develop between May and July 2026, with a high probability of intensifying in the subsequent months.
El Niño is a naturally occurring climate phenomenon characterized by the warming of sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean. This warming disrupts global weather patterns, leading to significant changes in temperature and precipitation worldwide.
According to the WMO's latest Global Seasonal Climate Update, there is a "nearly global dominance of above-normal land surface temperatures" anticipated for the upcoming three-month period.
Wilfran Moufouma Okia, Chief of Climate Prediction at WMO, stated, "After a period of neutral conditions at the start of the year, climate models are now strongly aligned, and there is high confidence in the onset of El Niño, followed by further intensification in the months that follow."
The WMO will provide a revised El Niño update in late May to offer more detailed information on the expected developments.
