El Nio has arrived: 5 ways California could get pummeled

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El Niño has arrived and it could become one of the largest on record, and California may be in for a bumpy ride.While the climate pattern is often linked with a higher chance of more rain in Southern California, it can affect the state — and its famous coastline — in numerous ways.That’s especially possible during a strong El Niño event, as this one is shaping up to be.

In fact, there’s a 63% chance El Niño could be “very strong” toward the end of the year, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center.And there’s an 88% chance El Niño will be either “very strong” or “strong.” “The recently observed and ongoing rapid escalation of conditions in the tropical Pacific, plus the consistently and increasingly extreme forward-looking model projections, truly do suggest that something extraordinary could unfold,” Daniel Swain, a UC climate scientist, wrote in a blog post.

“The upcoming El Niño event — which has a high likelihood of becoming very strong or even historic in magnitude — will likely lead to widespread and significant global impacts,” he added.“It is possible, even probable, that at least some of these effects will be unprecedented in the modern era, given the combined effects of a high-end El Niño event plus over a century of accumulated global warming.”El Niño’s impacts are usually felt strongest during the winter.

Here are five major ways California could be affected.While it’s no given, El Niño could open up the atmospheric floodgates in Southern California.Of the last four “very strong” El Niños on record, two — 1982-83 and 1997-98 — brought coastal Southern California more than double its typical annual rainfall.

Another, in 1991-92, brought 133% of the average, according to data provided by Jan Null, adjunct professor at San José State University.But the las...