How did El Niño get it's name?

The climate phenomenon"El Niño" was named by fishermen off the Pacific coast of South America who noticed occurrences of unusually warm water. Because El Niño-Southern Oscillation occurred around Christmastime, the fisherman named the condition"El Niño" as a reference to Jesus. read more

One oft-told story is that Peruvian fisherman in the 1800s noticed a warm ocean current that would appear around Christmas and called it"El Niño" (meaning"little boy" or"Christ child"). read more

El Niño means"the little boy" in Spanish. It was first observed by South American fishermen and shippers who observed the water along the Pacific Coast getting significantly warmer causing extreme weather events like heavy rainfall and flooding. read more