The Climate Prediction Center in the U.S. recently raised its forecast for the chance of El Niño conditions during the Northern Hemisphere summer to 70 percent, up from a 60 percent prediction last month.

Noting that there is an approximately 70 percent chance that El Niño will continue through the Northern Hemisphere summer of 2015, and a greater than 60 percent chance it will last through autumn, the National Weather Service's Climate Prediction Center kept open the hopes that above-average rainfall might be in store for the drought-stricken West.