WMO Warns El Niño May Start as Early as Next Month

The World Meteorological Organization says an El Niño event could begin from mid-2026, layered on top of an already record-warm ocean baseline. The structural angle: El Niño redistributes rainfall away from South Asia, Southeast Asia, southern Africa, and northeast Brazil — the same regions already stressed by 2024-2025 La Niña drought cycles. Lead with what the reader can't get from a US weather column: monsoon-failure risk for India and Pakistan during the kharif planting window, and Sahel food-security implications. WMO probability numbers go in the body.