Sri Lanka braces for possible El Niño conditions

The Meteorology Department announced yesterday that El Niño conditions likely emerge with a probability of approximately sixty-two per cent and should persist through at least the end of this year. Speaking to the press, Department operational weather forecaster and meteorologist Preethika Jayakody stated that rains continue this month without disruption, though the situation remains unconfirmed.

Preethika Jayakody urged the public to rely solely on official data, describing social media reports of a "super El Niño" as extremely disturbing and misleading. The Department noted that technical terms such as "super El Niño" do not exist in official forecasting, which instead classifies patterns as strong, moderate, or weak based on data from the World Meteorological Organisation.

Authorities advised that water be managed carefully in districts expecting low rainfall, with a focus on agricultural planning and irrigation management during cultivation periods. Updates to the weather outlook follow collaboration with South Asian partners to ensure real-time accuracy for day-to-day decision-making. El Niño, a natural climate pattern involving the warming of sea surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean, occurs every two to seven years and disrupts global weather, often leading to droughts or increased rainfall.