Each El Nino is unique, says WMO's climate prediction chief

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New York: Every El Niño climate event is entirely unique in its evolution, meaning even a weak cycle can trigger devastating local impacts, according to the World Meteorological Organization.

Wilfran Moufouma Okia, the WMO's chief of climate prediction, revealed Tuesday that warming El Niño conditions are highly likely to manifest before the end of August. While current modeling techniques allow scientists to forecast these major ocean-atmospheric shifts six months in advance, predicting exact localized damage remains incredibly complex.

Okia strongly dismissed the misconception that a weak El Niño event passes without consequences, warning that minor events often cause severe damage depending on regional vulnerabilities. When the phenomenon develops, catastrophic droughts typically hit West Africa, the Sahel, South Africa, Australia, and southeast Asia.

Conversely, the cycle drives intensely heavy rainfall across the equatorial Pacific and the southeastern United States. The WMO is distributing its findings directly to national weather agencies so individual countries can refine the data to brace for localized disruptions.