NEW YORK, N.Y. (Reuters) — A U.S. government weather forecaster warns that El Nino conditions are likely to last another nine months, potentially disrupting global crops and commodities prices.
The National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center projected a more than 90 percent chance that El Nino would continue through this winter and an 80 percent likelihood it would last into the Northern Hemisphere’s early spring.
Across North America, the effects of El Nino are likely to remain minimal through the summer and increase into the late fall and winter, the CPC said.
El Nino, the warming of Pacific ocean temperatures, tends to mean a warmer winter in Canada, and drier conditions on the Prairies.
