A potentially historic El Niño could bring some much-needed benefits to California this winter, including increased rainfall, improved reservoir levels, and a healthier mountain snowpack after years of drought concerns. … Forecasters predict much of California could see above-average precipitation and temperatures this winter. It’s unclear how the weather things will pan out this fall and winter, but similar events in past El Niño years have brought torrential downpours, coastal flooding, mudslides, power outages, and giant waves. … “I’m not saying the trade-off of having more rain outweighs the negative. But if we are looking for some sort of positive reason for El Niño, we can look towards the likelihood that we will see higher-than-average seasonal rain, which, of course, has been great,” KTLA meteorologist Henry DiCarlo said.

Other El Niño news:

• The Mercury News (San Jose, Calif.): El Niño: Which Northern California places are most at risk this winter?
• The Washington Post: California ups El Niño prep after FEMA tells states to handle disaster response
• San Francisco Chronicle: California’s oceans have become shockingly warm. And strange things are happening
• UC Irvine: Blog: Earth system scientist Jin-Yi Yu says 2026-27 El Niño could be the strongest ever