El Niño triggers sea level rise in California and suppresses Atlantic hurricanes

A powerful El Niño event is causing significant oceanic shifts across the Pacific and Atlantic. In the Pacific, a 30-kilometer-wide Kelvin wave is moving north from Cabo San Lucas toward California. This phenomenon is expected to raise sea levels along the California coast by up to 30 centimeters, reaching San Diego by next week and San Francisco by mid-October. Oceanographers note that while this is not a tsunami, the elevated sea state can exacerbate the impact of storm surges and high tides.

Simultaneously, the record-strength El Niño has suppressed hurricane activity in the Atlantic. For the first time in over thirty years, no hurricanes were recorded in the Atlantic during the peak month of September. This lack of tropical cyclone activity is attributed to strong high-altitude winds linked to the warming of the equatorial Pacific. While the Atlantic remains unusually quiet, the Pacific is seeing an increase in the frequency and intensity of storms.