El Niño could be strongest ever — but can it match El Niño mania?

The El Niño brewing in the tropical Pacific is getting really big. So is the hype. In California, after four dry years, people are hungry for wet weather, not only prattling on about precipitation but also tracking monsoons on the Internet and schooling themselves on the fine points of the jet stream — all in hope that the climatic pattern named after a child delivers an adult-size punch of moisture this winter.  The U.S. Climate Prediction Center’s monthly update, released Thursday, fueled the enthusiasm. The agency noted that ocean conditions are on par with what forecasters saw before the monster El Niño winters of 1997-98 and 1982-83, when record storms pummeled the state. Equatorial waters are significantly warmer than average, and trade winds that normally push tropical seas away from the Americas continue to weaken, the agency said — signals that the El Niño that emerged in March is turning into the giant associated with worldwide weather changes, including more rain in the Golden State.  “We’re predicting that this El Niño could be among the strongest in the historical record dating back to 1950,” said Mike Halpert, deputy director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center.  Halpert was quick to caution that the event holds no guarantee of above-average rain and snow for California. But he said the stronger the El Niño, the greater chance that wet weather will nourish a state gripped by wildfire and water shortages...more