10 ways to prepare your home for a wet El Niño winter
Learn how to prepare your home for El Niño, from flood insurance and roof checks to drainage, sump pumps and emergency supplies, with 10 practical steps before winter storms Most winter storms come with a few days of forecast warning at best. El Niño works on a longer clock. It is a shift in ocean and atmospheric conditions that forecasters monitor as it builds in the tropical Pacific. That lead time gives households a chance to act before the rain starts rather than after water is already inside. El Niño is the warm phase of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation, a recurring climate pattern often shortened to ENSO. During this phase, sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific run above average. Those warmer waters shift weather patterns far beyond the ocean. In winter, El Niño tends to steer more rain toward the southern U.S., including Southern California. That…
