The El Nino phenomenon has intensified to the strongest level on record, Japan’s weather agency announced on Friday, adding that the condition is expected to last through the winter. The naturally occurring weather pattern warms surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean, bringing worldwide changes in winds, pressure and rainfall. The sea temperature in the El Nino monitoring area was above normal with a deviation of plus 4 C in September, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said. “It exceeded the previous record of +3.6C set in December 1997, the highest since records began in 1949, making it the most intense on record,” the JMA said. “El Nino conditions, which are considered to have persisted in the equatorial Pacific since spring 2026, have reached its strongest intensity on record.” The agency added that the phenomenon “is likely to peak on record during the season,” with the strongest El Nino conditions “virtually certain” to continue until winter in the Northern Hemisphere. The seesawing shift in ocean temperatures and winds forms across the tropical Pacific Ocean but can influence drought, floods, and other extremes thousands of miles away. El Nino events typically peak around December. The ocean releases heat into the atmosphere slowly, often driving up global average temperatures the following year. Many record-hot years -- including 1998, 2010, 2016, 2023 and 2024 -- followed major El Nino events or developed alongside them.
