An exceptionally powerful Super El Niño, expected to reach its peak this winter, could bring surprisingly favorable weather to New York City even as other parts of the United States face severe storms and flooding, forecasters said Thursday.
Based on sea-surface temperatures, the “behemoth” weather pattern could become more than six times stronger than a typical El Niño between November and January, according to the World Meteorological Organization.
“This is literally off the monitoring charts that we have used for the past four decades,” WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo said Wednesday.
For New York City, the pattern could extend autumn-like conditions into January. AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Matt Benz told The Post that the city may see up to 25% less snow this winter than it did last year.
“Fall will linger longer this year,” Benz said. “We expect winter to arrive later.”
“In the middle to end of January, we will start to get a taste of winter in the Tri-State area,” he said.
New York City recorded a brutal 43 inches of snow last year, but forecasters expect just 10 to 20 inches this season, Benz said.
Much of the northeastern United States is also expected to experience a relatively mild winter as a result of the weather pattern.
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Parts of the western United States, however, are unlikely to receive the same benefits from the powerful Super El Niño.
“Northern California could see frequent storms with rain and wind — and coastal storms with erosion,” Benz said.
“California and the desert Southwest are at the highest risk of flooding,” he said.
Parts of the southern United States, including the northern Gulf Coast, are also expected to experience more “heavy rain events,” Benz said.
Meanwhile, heavier snowfall could affect the Rockies, the Sierra Nevada and parts of the Midwestern Plains, he said.
“El Niño is a term that gets thrown around every year — but in this case, it could be one of the strongest on record,” Benz said.
On Wednesday, Tom Fletcher, the UN’s emergency relief chief, called the Super El Niño “a wrecking ball” capable of driving extreme heat, drought and flooding around the world.
“This El Niño is a behemoth,” Fletcher said.
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