The looming El Niño could bring one of the wettest winters on record to California, according to renowned climatologist Daniel Swain.  In a social media post shared Thursday, Swain, a climate scientist with the California Institute for Water Resources, shared an update from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, the gold standard for weather forecasting, which predicts a “genuinely extraordinary to extreme” El Niño that could impact California for months. Swain says that the ECMWF prediction indicates 70% to 100% odds of above-average winter precipitation in the Golden State, and 70% to 100% odds of the coming winter, from December to February, being among the top 20% of wettest California winters ever recorded.  

Other El Niño news:

• The New York Times: In a hurricane-season twist, the West Coast may be the one to watch
• Lost Coast Outpost (Eureka, Calif.): Super El Niño could bring heavy rainfall and record high tides this winter, plus summer lightning in fire-prone regions across the North Coast, climate scientists warn
• Local News Matters (Bay Area News Service): Climate experts predict high flood risk in Bay Area for super El Niño
• The Ukiah Daily Journal (Calif.): “Super El Niño” — A glimpse of the new normal?
• inewsource (San Diego): Years after San Diego flooded, can it handle ’super El Niño’?
• Lake County Record-Bee (Lakeport, Calif.): El Nino cycle signals cresting current along coast
• John Fleck at Inkstain: Blog: “Super” El Niño meh in the Rio Grande and Colorado River headwaters?