![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/sut-l-nino-storm.jpg\")
A woman watches as large surf rolls to the beach past the Ocean Beach Pier which was closed because of the high surf after the first major El Nino storm of the season in San Diego, on Jan. 7, 2016. (Bill Wechter\/AFP\/Getty Images)<\/p>\nWinter is months away, but the mere possibility that a major El Ni\u00f1o will whack places like San Diego late this year is stirring deep concern in the town square that is social media.<\/p>\n
A flood tide of people are saying they\u2019re worried that warm water from the equatorial Pacific will produce a \u201csuper\u201d El Ni\u00f1o that will enhance winds, waves and rain storms on the West Coast.<\/p>\n
The concern stems from a report from NOAA, which said last month that an El Ni\u00f1o appears to be taking shape. The agency cautiously noted that there\u2019s a 61% chance this will happen, and that it could be anything from a very strong jolt to a piffle.<\/p>\n
They were referring to a\u00a0form of climate change that\u2019s well-known in San Diego. In 1983, El Ni\u00f1o-enhanced waves slapped part of Crystal Pier into the ocean, leading to a hair-raising evacuation in the boardwalk area. A separate event that began in 1997 caused damaging floods and bluff slides up and down the coast.<\/p>\n
NOAA isn\u2019t waving red flags to get the public\u2019s attention, at least not yet, partly because El Ni\u00f1o is hard to forecast.<\/p>\n
A woman watches as large surf rolls to the beach past the Ocean Beach Pier which was closed because of the high surf after the first major El Nino storm of the season in San Diego, on Jan. 7, 2016. (Bill Wechter\/AFP\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
John Suk, director of the National Weather Service\u2019s San Diego office, struck a similar cautious tone last week, telling the Union-Tribune, \u201cThis doesn\u2019t raise alarm bells with me at all.\u201d<\/p>\n
The vibe and message are completely different on social media, which is making it difficult for everyone to figure out what\u2019s going on.<\/p>\n
Broadly speaking, people on platforms such as YouTube, Instagram and X are saying that a major El Ni\u00f1o not only seems likely but appears to be inevitable. Many of the people driving the conversation are scientists and meteorologists, some of whom include catchy videos and government data.<\/p>\n
About a month ago, people began to routinely refer to this prospective change in the climate as a Super El Ni\u00f1o, a description that is not used by NOAA. And many users started to compare El Ni\u00f1o\u2019s strength to that of Godzilla, the fabled and fictitious destroyer of worlds.<\/p>\n
Some of this is sarcasm and humor. And some of it seems to reflect the public\u2019s fascination with El Ni\u00f1o, with the phenomenon\u2019s name popularized by the news media in 1983 after the system produced four to five big storms in one month on the California coast, notably in the San Diego area.<\/p>\n
Before then, the public didn\u2019t really have a word to describe the phenomenon.<\/p>\n
But the overriding message is deeply serious. And it also reflects the concerns of many scientists who aren\u2019t saying anything on social media.<\/p>\n
\u201cConfidence is building, the trends are there,\u201d said Brian D\u2019Agostino, who oversees wildfire and climate science at San Diego Gas & Electric. \u201cEl Ni\u00f1o is on the way.\u201d<\/p>\n
The social media uproar is likely to become even louder on Thursday. NOAA will issue an update that is widely expected to say that there\u2019s deeper evidence that an El Ni\u00f1o is taking shape.<\/p>\n
The update comes at a moment when an already complicated phenomenon is becoming even harder to understand, and potentially more dangerous.<\/p>\n
![\"San](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/SUT-EL-NINO_5_7_26x002_ba3b00.jpg\")
Brent Fish, an aquarist at Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, takes the surface and the sea bottom temperature Thursday by using probes lowered from a hatch which opens over Scripps Pier. (John Gastaldo \/ For The San Diego Union-Tribune)<\/p>\n
The ocean temperature on the West Coast has soared in recent months, rising 3 to 7 degrees above normal in places such as La Jolla Shores, according to UC San Diego\u2019s Scripps Institution of Oceanography.<\/p>\n
![\"San](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/SUT-EL-NINO_5_7_26x004_6bfb8c.jpg\")
Brent Fish, an aquarist at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, takes hold of a Niskin sampling bottle, left, used for taking seawater samples from just above the ocean bottom over Scripps Pier. He will then measure the temperature of the water and record it, a measurement that is taken daily. (John Gastaldo \/ For The San Diego Union-Tribune)<\/p>\n