Recent ‘Super El Niños’
Defined by warming waters in the Pacific, the El Niño weather pattern occurs periodically. The strongest, sometimes called “super El Niños,” can cause extensive damage. This chart shows the monthly sea surface temperature anomaly in the equatorial Pacific, a measure commonly used to classify El Niños.
Line chart of change in degrees Celsius from the average baseline oceanic surface temperature. Only three "Super" El Niños have occurred since 1982.
