--- title: "NOAA Issues Stark Warning About Upcoming El Niño" description: "El Niño will cause a devastating \"double whammy\" effect, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association warned." date: "2026-05-20" modified: "2026-05-20" authors: - name: "Frank Landymore" job_title: "Contributing Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/flandymore" url: "https://futurism.com/science-energy/noaa-warning-el-nino" categories: - "Climate Change" - "Environment" - "Science & Energy" --- # NOAA Issues Stark Warning About Upcoming El Niño ![A coastal town with a densely packed cluster of buildings along the shoreline. The buildings are mostly multi-story with varied architectural styles, including some with pointed roofs and balconies. The sea is rough, with large waves crashing against the seawall and flooding the promenade. Beyond the town, there are green fields and open land. The overall scene suggests a windy, possibly stormy day by the coast.]() *Getty / Futurism* It's never a good sign when meteorologists start throwing around phrases like "double whammy." But that's what scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association say we're in for with the [return of El Niño,]() the fearsome tropical climate pattern. In a [new announcement](), NOAA's National Weather Service said that it was predicting El Niño will likely emerge in July and last through the winter, bringing high-tide flooding with it. These floods can happen without storms or heavy rainfall; as El Niño causes flux in the jet streams above the ocean, these can elevate local sea levels along the coasts and spill over onto land. William Sweet, a NOAA oceanographer and high tide flooding expert, warns that these events often end up being a "double whammy," amid a backdrop of climate change. "The first punch is decades of sea level rise, which has waters close to the brim in many coastal communities," Sweet explained in a statement. "And now with this second punch — a strong El Niño — coastal communities face more frequent, deeper and widespread high tide flooding along both the West and East Coasts." El Niño is part of a cyclical climate phenomenon caused by shifting winds and surface temperatures over the ocean. In the phenomenon's warm phase, the planet's easterly winds along the equator, called trade winds, weaken and migrate upward, warming the northern oceans. In its cool phase, El Niña, the opposite happens: the trade winds get stronger and cool the Pacific off the western Americas and drive warmer waters towards Asia. It swings between warm and cool phases every two to seven years on an irregular schedule, wreaking varying degrees of devastation. This year, unfortunately, is [anticipated to be historically disastrous](). Scientists are projecting that El Niño will heat sea surface temperatures in the eastern tropical Pacific by 5.4 degrees Fahrenheit. Experts say a similar shift happened during the strongest El Niño on record in 1877 to 1878, which drove a global famine that [killed more than 50 million people]() worldwide. While the food supply chains are more robust than it was 150 years ago — or so you'd hope — that figure gives you an idea of how disruptive a few degrees' difference in ocean temperatures can be. Batten down the hatches, folks. **More on the climate:** [*The Upcoming El Niño Is About to Unleash Devastation, Experts Warn*]() ## Author At Futurism, my work has often centered on bringing a sense of clarity and insight to complex topics ranging from the regulation of emerging technologies to the esoteric ideologies of Silicon Valley executives, while striving not to lose the poetic sense of awe inspired by often-obscure fields like astrophysics and quantum computing. I broke the story of CNET using AI to produce articles that turned out to be riddled with factual errors and plagiarism — a dam-breaking inflection point, as I've reported, that's inspired copycats and endless discourse while beguiling stakeholders ranging from tech giants to purveyors of spam around the web. My work at Futurism has been cited by publications including CBS News, the Los Angeles Times, Vice, Gizmodo, Engadget, the Verge, and Vanity Fair. I grew up in locales ranging from India to China, and now live in the exotic suburbs of Virginia. In my free time, I'm an avid reader of weird sci-fi literature, an aficionado of East Asian cinema, and, regrettably, a relapsed gamer. Allegedly, I’m working on a debut novel, currently untitled. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()