Weather experts are warning people to start preparing for the possibility of increased rain and flooding across the region from El Niño.
The National Weather Service’s most recent forecast showed that El Niño continued to gain strength in October.
“El Niño is here. And it is huge … At this point, we’re just waiting for the impacts in California,” Bill Patzert, a climatologist for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, told the Los Angeles Times.
El Niño does not typically peak in California until January, February and March. That’s when Californians should expect “mudslides, heavy rainfall, one storm after another like a conveyor belt,” Patzert told the Times.
Most models predict that the current El Niño will rank among the three strongest episodes on record since 1950.
“January and February are just around the corner. If you think you should make preparations, get off the couch and do it now. These storms are imminent,” Patzert said.
