{"id":471261,"date":"2026-09-21T22:18:13","date_gmt":"2026-09-21T22:18:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/471261\/"},"modified":"2026-09-21T22:18:13","modified_gmt":"2026-09-21T22:18:13","slug":"a-powerful-el-nino-is-brewing-newsom-wants-california-ready-for-the-worst","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/471261\/","title":{"rendered":"A Powerful El Ni\u00f1o is Brewing. Newsom Wants California Ready for the Worst"},"content":{"rendered":"

California is preparing for flooding and dangerous storms as a potentially historic El Ni\u00f1o strengthens.<\/p>\n

Sep 21, 2026<\/p>\n

Updated 3:08 pm PT<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

An automated National Weather Service weather station collects data on a bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Montara, California, on April 5, 2016. Newsom declared a state of emergency on Monday as California braces for a potentially historic El Ni\u00f1o.\u00a0(Paul Chinn\/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

As a potentially historic El Ni\u00f1o<\/a> continues to build, Gov. Gavin Newsom proclaimed a state of emergency<\/a> on Monday ahead of winter storms and high tides that could wreak havoc on the state.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Forecasters predict that much of California could have above-average<\/a> precipitation and temperatures this winter. The potential storms could pile on top of El Ni\u00f1o-induced higher sea levels and record-high king tides<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As a result, Newsom is directing state agencies to begin preparing vulnerable communities and roads, stage emergency supplies and work in at-risk areas to reduce flooding potential. He has also directed state agencies to fast-track permitting and cut red tape to ready the state for El Ni\u00f1o effects.<\/p>\n

\"\"Cars drive on highway 101 flooded by the \u201cKing Tides\u201d on Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026, near Corte Madera in Marin County, California.\u00a0(Ethan Swope\/AP Photo)<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are preparing for this El Ni\u00f1o early because every Californian deserves to be safe in their home, connected to their community, and protected when severe weather comes,\u201d Newsom said in a statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n

El Ni\u00f1o forms when tropical trade winds weaken or reverse, allowing warm ocean water near Asia to slosh toward the Pacific Coast. That warming can reshape the jet stream and bring stormier weather across California while disrupting the ocean\u2019s nutrient-rich upwelling, heating coastal waters, raising sea levels and stressing marine life.\u00a0<\/p>\n

National forecasters with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration report that the natural climate phenomenon is strengthening, with a greater than 90% chance of a very strong event and a 75% chance of a historic<\/a> event this fall and winter.<\/p>\n

Exactly what the weather will look like this fall and winter is \u2014 quite literally \u2014 still up in the air. But similar events in past El Ni\u00f1o years have brought torrential downpours, coastal flooding, mudslides, power outages and giant waves.<\/p>\n

\"\"Plastic sheeting and sandbags are placed outside a home along Golden Hind Passage, as residents prepare for potential king tide flooding, in Corte Madera, on June 15, 2026.\u00a0(Gustavo Hernandez\/KQED)<\/p>\n

State agencies are also preparing for the adverse effects of too much precipitation, flooding, landslides and debris flows by fast-tracking permitting and identifying other ways to cut red tape.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe emergency order is very clear that we are to exercise whatever emergency authorities we have and our entities within our agencies have to enable this work to happen quickly and efficiently to be in place for when this fall weather could come this winter,\u201d said Wade Crowfoot, California Secretary of Natural Resources.<\/p>\n

Newsom\u2019s order also directs the Governor\u2019s Office of Emergency Services to expand multilingual messaging about preparedness, power outages, extreme weather, evacuation and alerts.<\/p>\n

State leaders are also prepared to ask the federal government for assistance if needed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe remain hopeful that they will be responsive when we do have the need, if we were to get an incident that rose to the level of needing a federal declaration,\u201d Thomas Jacobs said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"California is preparing for flooding and dangerous storms as a potentially historic El Ni\u00f1o strengthens. Sep 21, 2026…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":471262,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,9,8],"class_list":["post-471261","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/471261","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=471261"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/471261\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/471262"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=471261"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=471261"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=471261"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}