Intensifying El Nino shifts rainfall from the Horn of Africa to the Pacific, the World Meteorological Organization reports
19 October 2026
The World Meteorological Organization reported on World Food Day that an intensifying El Nino is shifting rainfall patterns worldwide, from drought to flooding, and affecting agriculture, fisheries and food production.
Sea-surface temperatures in the central and eastern tropical Pacific are forecast to reach record levels in October to December 2026.
An outlook issued by ICPAC on 19 August predicts wetter than normal October to December rains in the equatorial and southern parts of the Greater Horn of Africa, where up to 70 per cent of annual rainfall in parts of Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia falls in that period.
Peru has suspended anchoveta fishing to protect stocks.
Wilfran Moufouma Okia, chief of the Climate Prediction Section at WMO, said, El Nino impacts vary from one region to another and often even within the same region, and also from season to season.
WMO scientific officer Sebastian Grey said the phenomenon increases drought risk in one part of the region while increasing flood risk in another.
In plain words
ICPAC IGAD Climate Prediction and Applications Centre — The regional climate centre that issues seasonal forecasts for the Greater Horn of Africa.
Anchoveta Peruvian anchoveta — A small fish off Peru whose catch collapses when warm El Nino water reaches the coast.