El Niño is Now Strongest on Record, with Months to Grow Stronger

You are looking at the strongest El Niño event on record.

On Sept. 19, the key monitoring region in the Pacific Ocean reached 3.05°C above average, breaking the record from November 2015.

There are still three months of strengthening to go.

Yesterday’s Nino 3.4 SST was 29.73°C (preliminary), setting the 114th consecutive daily record, 0.93°C higher than the previous daily high set in 2015 and 3.78σ above the 1991-2020 mean. The highest recorded sea-surface temperature for the Nino 3.4 region is 29.82°C, set on November 17, 2015.

Below, the best and clearest layman’s explanation of El Niño is from a CBC presenter – leave it to the Canadians to cut through BS.

Here's a detailed look at how El Niño evolved from January 1st, 2026, to September 19th, 2026 & how we got to the strongest El Niño since the beginning of weather satellites in 1950.

Also, the transition from La Niña very early this year to now the strongest El Niño on record… pic.twitter.com/mNq1p2J72w
— David Schlotthauer (@Weatherunited1) September 20, 2026

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