El Nino returns; severe impact on global weather expected

October 15th, 2009 Winter forecast: Warmer West, North; cooler SouthWASHINGTON — The Midwest and Northern United States are likely to get a warmer winter, while the Southeast can expect just the opposite: cooler and wetter conditions. In Thursday's winter outlook, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says an El Nino weather event — warming in parts of the Pacific that affects weather worldwide — will be a major player in America's winter temperatures.

October 6th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A long-term study has shown that El Nino, a global climate pattern, drives Sulfur butterfly migrations across the Panama Canal. Climate change has been linked to changes in the migration of butterflies in North America and Europe but this is one of the first long-term studies of environmental factors driving long-distance migration of tropical butterflies.

September 24th, 2009 WASHINGTON - In a new research, scientists have determined that El Nino, the periodic eastern Pacific phenomenon credited with shielding the US and Caribbean from severe hurricane seasons, may be overshadowed by its brother in the central Pacific due to global warming. "There are two El Ninos, or flavors of El Nino," said Ben Kirtman, co-author of the study and professor of meteorology and physical oceanography at the University of Miami's Rosentstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science.

September 15th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new research conducted at Texas A and M University, US, has shown evidence of a possible link between El Nino and a severe flu pandemic in 1918 that adversely affected India. The findings are based on analysis of the 1918 El Nino, which the new research shows to be one of the strongest of the 20th century.

September 10th, 2009 Mild El Nino continues, strengthening expectedWASHINGTON — A weak El Nino is under way and it is expected to strengthen and last through winter, government climate researchers said Thursday. The periodic climate phenomenon is marked by warming of the central Pacific Ocean and changes in wind direction and air pressure that can affect weather around the world.

August 23rd, 2009 Weather improving for Tuesday space shuttle launchCAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — The weather is looking even more promising for Tuesday's launch of space shuttle Discovery.

August 19th, 2009 UN reports 'weak to moderate' El Nino in PacificGENEVA — A "weak to moderate" El Nino weather system has developed in the tropical Pacific Ocean and could create unusual weather patterns around the world through March, a U.N. agency said Wednesday.

August 16th, 2009 Tropical weather gets busy, expected to strengthenPENSACOLA BEACH, Fla. — After getting off to a slow start, the Atlantic hurricane season got busy Sunday as a tropical depression formed off the northern Gulf Coast of Florida, threatening to bring heavy rain and possible flooding to the area.

August 6th, 2009 US forecasters lower Atlantic hurricane outlookMIAMI — The Atlantic hurricane season will be less active than originally predicted, government forecasters said Thursday after the first two months of the half-year stretch passed without any named storms developing. Updating its May outlook, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said a warmer weather pattern called an El Nino over the Pacific Ocean was acting as a damper to tropical storms in the Caribbean and neighboring Atlantic.

July 3rd, 2009 WASHINGTON - A study by climatologists at the Georgia Institute of Technology suggests that a new form of El Nino may be changing potentially causing not only a greater number of hurricanes than in average years, but also a greater chance of hurricanes making landfall. "Normally, El Nino results in diminished hurricanes in the Atlantic, but this new type is resulting in a greater number of hurricanes with greater frequency and more potential to make landfall," said Peter Webster, professor at Georgia Tech's School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences.

July 2nd, 2009 New form of El Nino may increase Atlantic stormsWASHINGTON — El Nino may have a split personality. The warming of the tropical Pacific Ocean has long been known to affect weather around the world, but researchers now say it may come in two forms with different impacts.

June 25th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Union Agriculture Secretary T Nanda Kumar will meet Agriculture Secretaries of states on Thursday to discuss the situation arising due to delayed monsoon. Agriculture Secretaries of states like Maharashtra, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Bihar, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh will meet to consider measures to deal with the situation.n Wednesday, Union Minister for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences, Prithiviraj Chavan has said that the Southwest Monsoon is likely to remain below normal level vis-à-vis the original prediction and conventional rainfall.

June 8th, 2009 Forecasters say El Nino may be developingWASHINGTON — A new El Nino could be approaching. Sea-surface temperatures have been warming in the tropical Pacific Ocean, suggesting the potential for the development of the El Nino climate phenomenon this summer, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

May 29th, 2009 Weather system loses tropical depression statusMIAMI — The National Hurricane Center says a weather system moving over the Atlantic has lost its tropical depression status. The National Weather Service had counted the depression, which formed Thursday, as the first of the 2009 Atlantic hurricane season, which officially begins Monday.

February 15th, 2009 CANBERRA - Australia may face even higher risk of fire next summer due to extreme temperatures, a professor told ABC Radio's A.M. programme Monday.