A super warm equatorial subsurface Pacific Ocean has shifted east and emerging off the northwest coast of South America. El Nino is approaching rapidly! The influence on the atmosphere is causing excessive rainfall events affecting the U.S. (beyond just the effects of Florence).

Keeping the regional sea surface temperature anomaly regimes such as the super warmth off the East U.S. Coast influence on Florence in mind, emerging SSTA patterns in the tropical Indian and Pacific Oceans are signs of historic Australian drought ahead.

Unusually warm waters off the Mid-Atlantic/Northeast U.S. and attendant sea level rise helped Florence produce unusually extreme rainfall and an immense storm surge.

Florence is moving inland this morning in the Wilmington, NC area while much of the storm remains offshore today therefore sustaining hurricane conditions well into Friday night.