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April 13 (UPI) -- Scientists now expect the El Niño weather phenomenon to affect climate conditions and temperatures during the next six months, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Thursday. The administration's Climate Prediction Center issued a warning for the climate pattern officially known as the El Niño-Southern Oscillation.
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"The most recent [International Research Institute] plume favors a transition to El Niño, beginning June-August 2023 and persisting into the winter," the Climate Prediction Center said in its April warning.
An El Niño watch is issued when "conditions are favorable" for the system developing.
"While we are still in an ENSO-neutral phase -- when no El Niño or La Niña is present -- there is a 62% chance El Niño will develop sometime between May and July. This comes after nearly two continuous years of a La Niña," NOAA said in a statement Thursday.
El Niño is the warm phase of the southern oscillation and usually is associated with warmer ocean temperatures and greater precipitation between the central and eastern Pacific Ocean.
The event usually occurs every two to seven years, typically developing between April and June and hitting maximum strength between October and February.
In early March, NOAA scientists officially declared an end to the La Niña, the colder counterpart to El Niño.
El Niño generally equates to wetter-than-usual conditions across the southern United States, with warmer and drier conditions in the northern part of the country.
