1997–98 El Niño Event

1997-98 El Niño event

Animation of sea surface temperature anomalies in the eastern Pacific Ocean along the equator
Formed	June 1997
Dissipated	June 1998
Damage	Very High
Areas affected	The Pacific Ocean and surrounding areas

The 1997–98 El Niño was regarded as one of the most powerful El Niño–Southern Oscillation events in recorded history, resulting in widespread droughts, flooding and other natural disasters across the globe. It caused an estimated 16% of the world's reef systems to die, and temporarily warmed air temperature by 1.5 °C, compared to the usual increase of 0.25 °C associated with El Niño events.

It led to a severe outbreak of Rift Valley fever after extreme rainfall in north-eastern Kenya and southern Somalia. It also led to record rainfalls in California during the water season of 1997–98 and one of Indonesia's worst droughts on record. 1998 ultimately became the warmest year in recorded history (up until then).

In January 1997, satellites gathering information on water temperatures and sea level heights discovered an area of unusually warm water situated across the western half of the Pacific Ocean. About 150 m (490 ft) below the surface, water temperatures were about 3 °C (5.4 °F) above normal, signifying that an El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) event was beginning. By this time, the Scripps Institution of Oceanography had forecast that an ENSO was likely to take place during the latter half of 1997. Throughout February, water temperatures began increasing over much of the Pacific as well as in shallower waters off the coast of Peru. The above-average water temperatures covered an area roughly 11,000 km (6,800 mi) across, almost stretching from New Guinea to South America. By April, the ENSO became fully established; a column of warm water extended to the surface in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and water anomalies exceeded 5 °C (9 °F) about 150 m (490 ft) below the ocean surface. At the surface off the coast of Peru, water temperatures averaged 3 °C (5.4 °F) above normal.

Exceedingly warm waters became apparent by May, especially off the coast of South America where anomalies were reaching 7 °C (12.6 °F) above normal. Further north, sea surface temperatures along the Pacific coast of North America were increasing, with a large pool of water being 3 °C (5.4 °F) above normal. By September 1997, the ENSO became very powerful, with surface temperatures between South America and the International Dateline averaging 2-4 °C (3.6-7.2 °F) above normal, roughly a quarter of the planet's diameter. Additionally, waters along the Pacific coast of North America continued to expand, now stretching from Alaska to southern Mexico. A contrasting area of abnormally cool waters took shape near the coast of Australia by September as well, with waters 150 m (490 ft) below the surface averaging 4 °C (7.2 °F) below normal. Along the Pacific coast of the Americas, the volume of 21 to 30 °C (70 to 86 °F) water was roughly 30 times greater than that of the all the water in the Great Lakes combined. The extra heat energy created by this anomaly was also about 93 times more than the energy produced by fossil fuels in the United States during 1995.