El Nino Has Ended

Randall Weiseman General, Weather

El Nino has ended as the tropical Pacific Ocean has returned to a neutral state, and outlooks are suggesting no chance of returning to an El Nino state.

According to Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology, mid-May marked the end of the event that reduced Indian rainfall, parched farmland in Asia, and reduced cocoa harvest in parts of Africa.

The El Nino that just ended was one of the hottest on record, generating the hottest global temperatures in more than 130 years.

Weather watchers are now waiting for La Nina, a cooling of tropical Pacific waters that some view as the opposite of El Nino. The U.S. Climate Prediction Center says there is a 75 percent chance it will develop by years’ end, but some models say it could develop sooner.