Strong El Niño Effect During Winter Could Mean Multiple 10-Year Flood Events for West Coast

NASA has written an article discussing new analysis from its sea level change science team which finds that “if a strong El Niño develops this winter, cities along the western coasts of the Americas could see an increase in the frequency of high-tide flooding.”

The team’s research shows that, for certain West Coast cities, there could be up to five occurrences of a 10-year flood event, or the type of flood an area could see only once in a decade. The announcement specifically calls out Seattle and San Diego for being at-risk. Furthermore if this year’s trends stay stable, by 2030 strong El Niño years could see up to 10 10-year flood events and, by 2050, up to 40 10-year flood events. Read more at NASA.