Could El Nino Return This Year?

As La Nina fades, forecasters are expecting a neutral pattern through the summer, but some projections indicate a return of El Nino.

USDA Meteorologist Brad Rippey is cautious.

“The official forecast from the National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center does indicate a slowly increasing likelihood of El Nino returning by late-2017. But the odds are not particularly high. In fact if you look at the official forecast going out to the late-summer and early autumn, there’s still about a 50/50 chance of neutral conditions and about a 1/3 or just slightly better than 1/3 shot of El Nino returning.”

Rippey said neutral patterns can sometimes make long-time forecasts challenging.