Climatologist: ‘Super’ El Nino on the way, but what does that mean?

A composition photo of the sun and Dave Phillips.

The first day of summer has come and gone, at least on paper, but it may not feel that way in practice.

Climatologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada Dave Phillips says summer is on the way, but it’s a little “slow coming.”

RELATED: Simcoe County summer to be average

Despite the delayed warmth and excessive precipitation in June, he says normal temperatures are expected for the summer, but Phillips warns an El Nino is on the way.

According to Environment Canada, El Nino the term for the scientific phenomenon for when surface waters in the eastern tropical Pacific extending westward from Ecuador become warmer than average.

The changing pattern of the Pacific Ocean air causes a shift in the atmospheric circulation, bringing more Pacific air to Canada as opposed to its regular arctic air, which impacts weather patterns across not only the country but much of the earth.

Dave Philips says El Nino itself is no big deal. We’ve had 28 El Ninos since 1950 and this summer should remain relatively unchanged.

“But what about this one? It’s the super-charged, turbocharged El Nino” Phillips says.

“It means almost as if we can cancel our winter,” Phillips says.

“That is the fearless forecast; it’s early, we still have to see whether it materializes, and things can happen,” he adds.

He says this coming winter will be comparable to the 2023-2024 winter, when the Simcoe area had five times more rain events than snow fall.

“It may be great in terms of saying, my gosh, I saved money on my heating bill, I didn’t have to go to Florida, but there are implications to that,” he adds.

He adds that a ‘wet’ winter usually results in a dry spring and the increased likelihood of wildfires.