Meteorologist warns 2026 "Super El Niño" could be "strongest in 500 years"
But is "the strongest in 500 to 1,000 years" a bit too over the top?
Some meteorologists are warning that the coming El Niño, which we've been talking about all summer in Gamereactor climate news, could be exceptionally strong. The most dramatic (and perhaps a bit clickbaity/exaggerated) claims compare it with the catastrophic 1877-78 El Niño, and suggest it could be one of the strongest in centuries, but that language appears to come from individual forecasters rather than an official consensus.
Official forecasts do support the risk of a strong El Niño, but not necessarily the "worst in 500 years" framing. The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's July outlook says El Niño is expected to develop and persist through late 2026, while IRI's model ensemble strongly supports a strong El Niño through the forecast period.
There is major global weather and food-security risk, but perhaps not yet aligned with the apocalyptic language. Reuters is already framing the event as a food-security concern, especially because El Niño-related crop disruption could combine with conflict and supply-chain pressure, but claims such as "most extreme climate event since the printing press" should be for the time being treated as sensational unless backed by broader scientific agreement.
The warning comes from US meteorologist Ryan Maue, who claimed on X that the coming "Super El Niño" could be the strongest in 500 to 1,000 years. However, official forecasts point to a very strong El Niño risk without endorsing that historical comparison.
