You’re going to hear a lot about El Niño this year. The term refers to warmer-than-average waters along the equatorial Pacific that can influence weather across the globe, raising the odds of searing drought in some regions and torrential rain in others. Indicators increasingly suggest such an event will develop later this summer, and it’s possible it could be the strongest of the century to affect Southern California. … In Southern California, strong El Niños increase the likelihood of wet winters that replenish water supplies and tamp down wildfire risk but can also unleash flooding, debris flows and coastal erosion. Still, the exact effects are impossible to predict.

Other El Niño news:

• SFGate: Experts report 25% chance of a “very strong” El Niño emerging
• KTLA (Los Angeles): ‘Super’ El Niño could turbo-charge summer temps in California, increase chance of wet winter
• KTVU (Oakland, Calif.): What would El Niño this summer mean for California’s winter?