China's National Marine Environmental Forecasting Center now projects peak sea
surface temperature anomalies in the equatorial central-eastern Pacific near
3.5°C, above June model projections, indicating continued development and a
potential record event. Senior engineer Tan Jing said El Nifio typically lasts
9–12 months with SST peaks most often from November to February. Anomalous
spring warming first appeared off the Peruvian coast and has since moved west;
the center declared the equatorial central-eastern Pacific in El Nifio state in
May and reports a marked acceleration in warming. Current surface SST anomaly
magnitude already exceeds same‑period levels in the 1997–98 and 2015–16 super El
Nifio events and is developing more rapidly.
