The administration's Climate Prediction Center issued a warning for the climate pattern officially known as the El Nino-Southern Oscillation.
"The most recent [International Research Institute] plume favors a transition to El Nino, beginning June-August 2023 and persisting into the winter," the Climate Prediction Center said in its April warning.
An El Nino watch is issued when "conditions are favorable" for the system developing.
"While we are still in an ENSO-neutral phase -- when no El Nino or La Nina is present -- there is a 62% chance El Nino will develop sometime between May and July. This comes after nearly two continuous years of a La Nina," NOAA said in a statement Thursday.
El Nino is the warm phase of the southern oscillation and usually is associated with warmer ocean temperatures and greater precipitation between the central and eastern Pacific Ocean.
The event usually occurs every two to seven years, typically developing between April and June and hitting maximum strength between October and February.
In early March, NOAA scientists officially declared an end to the La Nina, the colder counterpart to El Nino.
El Nino generally equates to wetter-than-usual conditions across the southern United States, with warmer and drier conditions in the northern part of the country.
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