Publication Date January 14, 2016 | Scientific American

Ask the Experts: Is El Niño to Blame for So Much Weird Weather?

United States
Water covers a closed Las Posas Road near Camarillo, Calif., after heavy rain from the first in a series of El Nino-influenced storms passed over the area on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2016. Photo: Joel Angel Juáreze, AP
Water covers a closed Las Posas Road near Camarillo, Calif., after heavy rain from the first in a series of El Nino-influenced storms passed over the area on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2016. Photo: Joel Angel Juáreze, AP

We asked Emily Becker, a research scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration who specializes in climate diagnostics, to clarify how much of our unusual weather we can blame on El Niño.