El Niño weakening, potentially setting the stage for prolonged drought

Federal climate scientists say the near-record El Niño conditions in the Pacific Ocean have peaked and are slowly waning.

Forecasters now say conditions are likely to flip to their opposite phase, known as La Niña by late summer or early fall, which could set the stage for another drier-than-normal winter and prolonged drought in California.

"We are reasonably confident that there will be a La Niña," says Huug van den Dool, seasonal forecaster at NOAA's ClimatePrediction Center, "but we plead ignorance as to whether this is going to be a small, moderate, or strong La Niña."

Read the SFGate story “El Niño weakening, potentially setting the stage for prolonged drought.”