Government officials in Zimbabwe are intensifying cloud-seeding operations to boost rainfall as global climate agencies warn of an unprecedented “Super El Niño”, according to statements reported on Clarín.
El Niño Threatens River Basins with Abundant Rainfall
The unfolding El Niño phenomenon ranks as the most intense of the past 30 years, according to Pedro Di Nezio, head of the Servicio Meteorológico Nacional (SMN).
Juan Borús, spokesperson for the Instituto Nacional del Agua (INA), said there are no historical precedents for an event of these characteristics.
Meteorological projections indicate that river basins in the Paraná and Uruguay regions will continue receiving very abundant rainfall. The rainy season initiates in the Paraguay basin, threatening floods across extensive areas reported by urgente24.
Global climate monitors including the NOAA in the United States and the Bureau of Meteorology in Australia note that sea surface temperatures in the central equatorial Pacific remain elevated.
Anomalies reach +2.5 °C in the Niño 3.4 region. Water temperatures touch 4.4 °C above normal near the coasts of Peru and Ecuador.
The Climate Prediction Center of the United States, dependent on NOAA, reported that a probability exceeding 79% exists for El Niño to persist in a strong to very strong category throughout the January-March 2027 trimester.
Additional analyses by meteorologist Mauricio Saldívar show that the El Niño event could reach its peak during the onset of summer.
Geographic patterns of these rains align with historical major floods on the Paraná and Uruguay rivers during 1983, 1998, and 2016. All of those floods occurred alongside extraordinary El Niño conditions.
Furthermore, the Bulletin N.º 10 on the hydrometeorological situation of Argentina indicated a 100% probability of El Niño remaining in place during the November-December-January 2026/2027 trimester.
Precipitation and Temperatures Vary Across the Pampas Region
The Bolsa de Cereales de Buenos Aires (BCBA) anticipates varied precipitation patterns across the agricultural sector.
The Buenos Aires Grains Exchange (BCBA) forecasts moderate to abundant rainfall in the west and south of the Pampas region while central areas receive scarcer totals.
Maximum temperatures are projected to reach between 30 and 35 degrees Celsius across most of the Pampas. They climb past 35 degrees in northern sectors and exceed 40 degrees in parts of northern Argentina.
In some areas of the north, maximum temperatures could even reach 45 degrees Celsius.
The Buenos Aires Grains Exchange (BCBA) emphasizes that El Niño will continue through the summer of 2027 as a Super El Niño.
The event will arrive without reaching extreme intensities claimed by various alarmist accounts. Instead, it places the behavior within the range of intense episodes observed in 1982/83, 1991/92, 1997/98, and 2015/2016.
Meanwhile, the Servicio Meteorológico Nacional published its quarterly climate forecast covering November 2026, December, and January 2027 to trace rainfall and temperature trends.
In the northeastern provinces (NEA), provincial reports from Formosa, Chaco, Corrientes, and Misiones detail thousands of evacuates and affected households due to persistent storms and overflowing waterways noted by NEA HOY.
Specifically, an assessment presented to the provincial Emergency Operations Command in Corrientes recorded 2,005 affected individuals, among whom 468 were evacuated and 1,537 self-evacuated.
In Misiones, a Provincial Civil Protection Subsecretariat survey showed that about 480 families across 46 municipalities suffered housing damage during October. This damage was primarily driven by roof blow-offs, sheet metal displacement, and fallen trees.
Meanwhile, southern provinces such as Neuquén face strong El Niño conditions heading into the summer season with peaks estimated between December 2026 and January 2027.
Río Negro, Chubut, and Santa Cruz face those exact same conditions. They raise concerns regarding fire hazards and prompt Neuquén to declare a six-month meteorological emergency via decree 1714/2026.
Institutional voices have also raised concerns over workforce and operational capacities in emergency handling.
Silvina Romano, an ATE delegate and systems worker at the national meteorological service, warned that a solid service is required to confront the strong impact of El Niño.
Staff departures due to low salaries and administrative discomforts have affected operations. Union representatives said that staffing levels among firefighters and brigade members fell short of optimal requirements ahead of the season.
“In view of the unprecedented warnings about a ‘Super El Niño’ issued by global climate agencies, the Government is intensifying mitigation measures, including cloud seeding, to increase the likelihood of precipitation,” said Anxious Masuku, Minister of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Water Resources Development of Zimbabwe, as covered by Clarín.
“There is no precedent for an El Niño of these characteristics,” said Juan Borús, spokesperson for the INA, during an interview with Canal Abierto.
“It is already public knowledge that the El Niño blow is going to be strong. So you need a solid and firm meteorological service to face this situation,” expressed Silvina Romano regarding agency preparedness.