El Niño is underway and is likely to affect China's weather during the flood season this year, according to Jiang Hua, chief forecaster at China's National Marine Environmental Forecasting Center.
It is expected that the Yangtze River basin will experience high temperatures and dry weather in the flood season, while the Yellow River basin, Huaihe River basin and Songhua River basin will have more rainfall, she added.
The Yangtze River enters its flood season, July 6, 2023. /CFP
After three years of the cooling La Niña weather pattern, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) announced that El Niño is now underway and has a 90 percent probability of continuing until the end of the year at moderate strength or higher.
"This year is a turning point between the decline of La Niña and the development of El Niño, and historically, the weather has tended to be abnormal during such transitional years," said Jiang.
El Niño occurs on average every two to seven years, and episodes typically last nine to 12 months. During an El Niño event, the tropical Pacific Ocean warms up more than usual. This, in turn, affects wind circulation, air temperature and precipitation patterns, impacting the weather worldwide.
For more:
Extreme weather may occur as El Nino arrives and may strengthen later in 2023
Heat wave strikes most parts of China as El Niño approaches
Likelihood of El Nino developing later this year rising: WMO
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