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El Nino will be strong, but won't break records, NOAA says

The current El Nino weather phenomenon is expected to peak between October and January and could turn into one of the strongest on record, experts from the World Meteorological Organization say.

So far, El Nino is 3rd strongest on record

The Associated Press ·
In this Sept. 23. 2014 file photo, a motorcyclist negotiates heavily flooded streets as rain falls in Miami Beach, Fla. A combination of sea level rise from human caused global warming and the giant El Nino will likely combine to increase the type of minor street flooding that doesn't cause big damage, but lots of inconvenience, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. (Lynne Sladky/Associated Press)

U.S. government forecasters upgraded this year's El Nino to an unusual strong status, but said it's probably not a record breaker or drought buster.

Mike Halpert, deputy director of the federal Climate Prediction Center at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said the current worldwide weather shifting event doesn't match the monster El Nino of 1997-1998, nor is it likely to.

With even warmer waters in the central Pacific in August, the hottest in more than 17 years, the prediction center moved the El Nino up from moderate status. So far the El Nino is the third strongest on record, behind 1997-98 and a weird one in 1987-88 that peaked early.

Meteorologists said strong El Ninos usually dump heavy rains on southern California, but its four-year water deficit is too big to be erased in one wet winter.

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