The powerhouse El Ni\u00f1o in the Pacific Ocean is making itself felt on two sides of the nation for the first, but probably not last, time this year.<\/p>\n
The nor\u2019easter lashing<\/a> the East Coast this weekend followed a path that can become more common for storms during El Ni\u00f1o, the climate phenomenon that originates in the tropical Pacific and goes on to influence rainfall, temperature and storms around the globe.<\/p>\n A continent away, Hurricane Nolo<\/a>, which is threatening to soak the Big Island of Hawaii with rain, is being fueled by El Ni\u00f1o-warmed waters in the Pacific. Since August, a parade of hurricanes has battered Hawaii with an intensity that has caught even scientists off guard.<\/p>\n \u201cI lived in Hawaii for 24 years and this is the craziest summer, the craziest fall, I\u2019ve ever seen,\u201d said Mark Merrifield, an ocean scientist and former director of the University of Hawaii Sea Level Center.<\/p>\n El Ni\u00f1o is part of a natural cycle in the Pacific Ocean that recurs every few years and brings a cascade of weather effects across the planet. Its strength typically peaks late in the calendar year. By some metrics, this one is already the strongest on record<\/a>, an indication of how significantly it is likely to upend many regions\u2019 normal weather patterns in the coming months.<\/p>\n People around the world are already dealing with the consequences. Indonesia is living under a haze<\/a> of toxic smoke from wildfires worsened by drought. Crops have withered<\/a> under dry conditions in India, Central America and parts of eastern Africa. Sea levels are rising<\/a> on the coast of California, giving a leg up for storms and waves to flood homes and erode beaches.<\/p>\n And Hawaii is confronting an extraordinary spate of hurricanes, which are drawing strength from the thick layer of warm water that El Ni\u00f1o produces at the surface of the central and eastern Pacific.<\/p>\n Besides providing more energy for Pacific hurricanes, El Ni\u00f1o also creates conditions in the atmosphere that help them stick around and intensify, said Kim Wood, an associate professor in the department of hydrology and atmospheric sciences at the University of Arizona.<\/p>\n Hawaii has been threatened by such storms before, but never in rapid succession like this year. \u201cIt is quite unusual to get that kind of back-to-back-to-back experience,\u201d Dr. Wood said. \u201cAnd with how mountainous those islands are, the rain threat is just that much worse.\u201d<\/p>\n When moist air hits mountains, it is forced upward, causing it to cool and release precipitation.<\/p>\n Filling sand bags in Hilo, Hawaii, to protect against Hurricane Nolo.Credit…Eugene Garcia\/Associated Press<\/p>\n Before this year, only six hurricanes over the past seven decades had been recorded as passing within 50 miles of the state, according to Michael Lowry<\/a>, a hurricane expert for WPLG-TV in Miami. Hurricane Nolo could become the third one to do so this year.<\/p>\n Scientists are working to understand whether human-caused global warming might be leading to more frequent, strong El Ni\u00f1os<\/a>. They haven\u2019t reached a clear consensus, though one thing is certain: The gyrations that El Ni\u00f1o brings are coming on top of an ocean and atmosphere already warmed by greenhouse gas emissions. That means the effects of an El Ni\u00f1o \u2014 whether downpours, wildfires or droughts \u2014 can potentially be more severe<\/a> than they would have been in an earlier, cooler time for the planet.<\/p>\n