This image from NOAA shows sea surface temperatures. El Niño is a disruption of the ocean-atmosphere system in the Tropical Pacific and is characterized by unusually warm temperatures in the equatorial Pacific but has important consequences for weather and climate around the globe.

Predictions for an El Niño event occurring this year continue to climb according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

In March the NOAA put the chance of such an event at 50 percent but they recently made available a report that raised the odds to 70 percent during the Northern Hemisphere summer and 80 percent during the fall and winter.

The latest update stated that all of the indicators that point to an El Niño increased during the month of May including above-average sea surface temperatures, which expanded over the equatorial Pacific Ocean. If it were to form, forecasters are slightly favoring a moderate strength event during our fall or winter.

For the U.S., El Niño commonly causes snowy winters in the Northeast, wet winters in the Southwest and on the West Coast, and a weaker Atlantic hurricane season. And because the events warm up the atmosphere as a whole, we may see above average temperatures next winter – a welcomed change for most of the country.

The next report is scheduled for early July.