NASA: Worst of El Nino Is Yet to Come

The El Nino weather system causing unseasonably warm temperatures along with tornadoes and heavy rains isn't over yet, according to NASA scientists.

Satellite images show this winter's El Nino to be even stronger than the one that wreaked havoc in the winter of 1997-98, CBS News reports.

Images from both years show the same pattern: high sea surface heights in the Pacific Ocean at the equator. That indicates warmer waters, which are "the signature of a big and powerful El Nino," according to NASA.

The 1997 El Nino peaked in November, but still brought the "Great Ice Storm" of 1998 to northern New England and parts of southern Canada. This season's El Nino has yet to peak and will likely bring more turbulent weather, from floods to droughts across the planet as as the jet stream path is altered.

Most of the impact on the United States is expected early this year, NASA says.

"Forecasters at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration favor an El Nino-induced shift in weather patterns to begin in the near future, ushering in several months of relatively cool and wet conditions across the southern United States, and relatively warm and dry conditions over the northern United States," NASA writes on its website.

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