After emerging in June, El Niño is now gathering power in the Pacific Ocean. A new outlook released on Thursday shows an 81% chance that El Niño, the climate pattern that generally brings a wet winter to California along with a cascade of global weather impacts, will rank as “very strong” from October through December. The forecast, a monthly memo from the National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center, also expects that El Niño conditions will linger through early spring 2027. The new report expressed more confidence than June’s that the event will ultimately fall into the strongest of four categories. … In California, the El Niño pattern tips the odds in favor of a wetter winter season, especially in the southern part of the state. … California’s skiers and snowboarders can expect increased chances of a higher snowpack in the Sierra Nevada. 

Other El Niño news:

• Los Angeles Times: Strong El Niño now a virtual certainty, forecasters say. What it means for California
• ​The Desert Sun (Palm Springs, Calif.): El Niño odds jump to 81% as forecasters warn of strong event
• The Guardian: Historic El Niño able to supercharge extreme weather looks increasingly likely – researchers​
• The Washington Post: Track how extreme this year’s El Niño could get
• ABC News: El Nino is strengthening: Here’s what it means for the US​
• Smithsonian Magazine: Could we mitigate Super El Niños by artificially changing the climate? A new study indicates yes​