The already-strong El Ni\u00f1o has crossed into \u201csuper\u201d territory after NOAA\u2019s weekly Ni\u00f1o 3.4 Relative Oceanic Ni\u00f1o Index (RONI) hit 2.0\u00b0C (3.6\u00b0F) above average \u2014 the official \u201cvery strong\u201d threshold \u2014 CNN reported Monday, citing NOAA forecasters.<\/p>\n
El Ni\u00f1o, first declared in June, is stronger on this calendar date than any prior event in the record and is still intensifying. NOAA\u2019s latest forecast gives about a 75% chance it peaks by year-end as the strongest event since records began in 1950. This is also the first El Ni\u00f1o tracked with NOAA\u2019s newer RONI metric (rolled out in February), which subtracts climate-change warming of the Pacific to isolate the cycle\u2019s \u201ctrue\u201d strength.<\/p>\n
Impacts are already stacking up: extreme Atlantic wind shear has held the basin without a hurricane so far this season, while the eastern\/central Pacific has spun up 16 storms including two Category 5s, with Hawaii facing three tropical systems in under a month. Indonesia is fighting widespread wildfires under El Ni\u00f1o\u2019s drying pattern, and August was Earth\u2019s hottest on record \u2014 with El Ni\u00f1o adding heat on top of climate change, CNN noted.<\/p>\n