El Niño, the seasonal climate pattern that brings a cascade of global weather impacts, is emerging in the Pacific Ocean, according to new data. There is a 62% chance that El Niño conditions will begin between June and August and last at least through the end of the year, the National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center reported on Thursday. … In general terms, El Niño signals a wet winter for California, especially the southern part. But experts cautioned that may not always be true. “Even if a Niño is born in summer, there’s no guarantee that California will get a wet winter,” Alexander Gershunov, a research meteorologist at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego, wrote.

Other El Niño news:

• The New York Times: Odds rise that El Niño will soon bring weather extremes
• NPR: El Niño is set to take hold this summer, driving up global temperatures
• Bloomberg: Planet-warming El Niño to form by September, US forecasters say
• National Integrated Drought Information System (NOAA): Blog: New NOAA El Niño-Southern Oscillation index supports drought early warning