Forecast Predicts 70% Chance of El Nino

The U.S. weather forecaster maintained its outlook for the El Nino weather phenomenon in its monthly update on Thursday, pegging the chances of the weather pattern striking during the Northern Hemisphere summer at 70 percent.

The Climate Prediction Center, an agency of the National Weather Service, said there was close to an 80 percent chance of El Nino, that can wreak havoc on crops, during the fall and early winter.

(Reporting by Josephine Mason in New York; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)