El Niño

noun

El Ni·​ño el-ˈnē-nyō 

plural El Niños

: an irregularly recurring flow of unusually warm surface waters from the Pacific Ocean toward and along the western coast of South America that prevents upwelling of nutrient-rich cold deep water and that disrupts typical regional and global weather patterns compare la niña

Did you know?

Each year around Christmas time, a warm equatorial current flows southward along the coast of Peru. In the 19th century, Peruvian fisherman named that annual current "El Niño" in honor of the Christ child (el niño means "the child" in Spanish). Later, when scientists noted that in some years this warm current flow is more intense than usual, they adopted the name and applied it to that more potent but erratic climatic phenomenon. Now El Niño is used almost exclusively for the severe episodes rather than for the annual ones to which it was originally applied.

Examples of El Niño in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

And the next year or so looks to turn the dial up on global warmth even more, as some forecasts predict a brewing El Nino will reach superstrength. —Seth Borenstein, Fortune, 8 Apr. 2026

The atmospheric reactions to El Nino and La Nina have changed and the Sierra snowpack is running at historically low levels. —Greg Porter, San Francisco Chronicle, 26 Mar. 2026

The Climate Prediction Center recently issued an El Nino watch. —Doyle Rice, USA Today, 17 Mar. 2026

Adams will lead the LA Phil, Los Angeles Master Chorale, soprano Julia Bullock and baritones John Moore and Will Liverman in selections from his operas: The Death of Klinghoffer, Nixon in China, and El Nino. —R. Daniel Foster, Forbes.com, 17 Mar. 2026

Global temperature records could be challenged again The year 2024 ranked as the planet’s warmest year on record, following the last El Nino event, which emerged in mid-2023 and persisted through spring 2024, according to NOAA. —Dan Peck, ABC News, 14 Mar. 2026

Then El Nino attacked the yields and quality of the fibers, and then there was a drought, which Mariela Calderon, Bergman/Rivera project manager, said prevented farmers from planting. —Angela Velasquez, Sourcing Journal, 18 Feb. 2026

One major natural factor in global temperatures is the El Nino/La Nina oscillation — a cyclic warming or cooling of the equatorial Pacific that changes weather across much of the planet. —Dallas Morning News, 14 Jan. 2026

According to Blumenfeld, that winter also arrived with El Nino which explains the similarly warm temperatures. —Graham P. Johnson, Twin Cities, 6 Feb. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Spanish, literally, the child (i.e., the Christ child); from the appearance of the flow at the Christmas season

First Known Use

1896, in the meaning defined above

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Kids Definition

El Niño

noun

El Ni·​ño el-ˈnē-nyō 

plural El Niños

: an irregularly occurring flow of unusually warm surface water along the western coast of South America that disrupts the normal regional and global weather patterns compare la niña

Etymology

Spanish, "the child" (referring to the Christ child); from the appearance of the flow at the Christmas season