By Tony Barboza, Source: The Los Angeles Times

A weather-altering El Niño is increasingly likely to develop in the Pacific Ocean later this year, according to a U.S. government forecast issued Thursday.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration meteorologists now believe an El Niño has a 66% chance of forming by this winter.

If the prediction materializes and the influential climate pattern sets in, it could bring wetter weather to California and the southern U.S., suppress the Atlantic hurricane season and compound global warming by boosting temperatures in 2015.

Government forecasters say observations and computer models in recent weeks indicate that water below the surface in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean is warming and showing increasing signs that an El Niño is afoot.

“The odds are increasing but still not one hundred percent,” said Mike Halpert, acting director of NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center.

After inching slowly upward, the chances of an El Niño surpassed 50% last month, prompting NOAA activate its alert system and issue an official El Niño watch.

Read the rest at: The Los Angeles Times