Effects of a super El Niño on China expected to last through summer 2027

 

(ECNS) -- The ongoing super El Niño event is expected to affect China through summer 2027, the National Marine Environmental Forecasting Center, under China's Ministry of Natural Resources, said on Tuesday. 

The event is intensifying rapidly and is forecast to peak in November or December 2026, with sea surface temperature anomalies projected to reach around 3.5 degrees Celsius in the Niño 3.4 region and to exceed 4 degrees Celsius in the Niño 3 region.

If the forecast is confirmed, the event would be the strongest El Niño since systematic observations began.

This winter, sea surface temperatures are forecast to be above average in the Bohai Sea, the eastern Yellow Sea, most of the East China Sea, and the northern and southwestern parts of the South China Sea, while temperatures in other coastal waters are expected to be slightly above normal.

Sea surface temperatures in China's coastal waters are also expected to remain generally above average throughout spring and summer 2027, potentially reaching record highs for those seasons.

(By Helen Mo & intern Liu Shuangjing)