'Potentially significant' El Niño to begin by summer

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Notable warming of the waters in the eastern equatorial Pacific has further increased the likelihood that El Niño will begin by late spring or early summer.

The odds of El Niño being in place for next winter are now up to 93%.

El Niño is the warm phase of the climate pattern known as ENSO (El Niño Southern Oscillation). For the last three winters we've been in the cool phase of ENSO known as La Niña.

As the waters in the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean got closer to normal we entered an ENSO Neutral phase in March. Now the waters continue to warm to above normal, giving forecasters greater confiden...