… This year, El Niño is “becoming so dominant” that it is “drowning out” another key weather factor, the Madden-Julian Oscillation, the National Hurricane Center said. The MJO is an area of thunderstorms circumnavigating the tropics, and typically central and east Pacific tropical cyclone activity ebbs and flows every two to six weeks due to those storms. But in recent months, record-warm ocean temperatures fueled by El Niño are supporting the nearly nonstop thunderstorms that provide the first key ingredient for potential tropical cyclones. The Pacific “hot spot” will continue through early September, the center said. … “There is growing potential for one of these tropical storms or hurricanes to make a right hook toward California,” Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at UC Agriculture and Natural Resources, said.

Other El Niño news:

• Los Angeles Times: Video: This ‘super’ El Niño is ready to break all-time records
• ABC10 (Sacramento, Calif.): Video: Why California’s Delta is preparing for a potentially strong El Niño