El Niño will strengthen through the end of the year, with a 97% chance it will persist through early spring 2027, the U.S. Climate Prediction Center said on Thursday.

“There is an 81% chance of a very strong El Niño during October-December that would rank among the largest El Niño events in the historical record going back to 1950,” the U.S. weather forecaster added.

The El Niño is a phenomenon that occurs naturally, when weakening trade winds cause warmer ocean waters to build up in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific. This typically leads to higher global temperatures and altered weather patterns, bringing drought to some regions and heavy rainfall to others.

Donald Keeney, agricultural meteorologist at Vaisala Weather said El Niño event typically result in cooler and wetter conditions across the Midwest during the late summer months, favorable for corn and soybeans during their moisture sensitive reproductive phases, and thus a higher likelihood of increased yield and production for both crops.

A strong to super-strong eastern Pacific-type El Niño event is expected to form this summer and autumn, raising risks for extreme weather such as flooding and heatwaves across China this year and the next, state news agency Xinhua reported, citing forecasts by the National Climate Centre.

“El Niño episodes typically lead to a weaker monsoon season for India, and at present, monsoonal rainfall has been 40% below the long term average. Thus, negative impacts are likely for summer crops there,” Keeney said.

Monsoon in India is expected to bring below-average rainfall to the country’s western and southern regions over the next fortnight, potentially slowing the sowing of cotton, soybeans and corn, two senior weather officials said.

The United Nations weather agency last week raised its forecast for the rapid emergence of a strong El Niño in the coming months, warning that the phenomenon is likely to drive global temperatures higher.

(Reporting by Noel John in Bengaluru;Editing by Nick Zieminski)