US weather forecaster sees El Niño unlikely into the winter

A U.S. government weather forecaster on Thursday said there were no active El Niño or La Niña patterns and that neutral conditions were likely in the Northern Hemisphere into the coming winter.

However, chances for El Niño remain above the long-term average at between 35 percent and 45 percent, the National Weather Service's Climate Prediction Center said in a monthly forecast.

The last El Niño, a warming of ocean surface temperatures in the eastern and central Pacific that typically occurs every few years, was linked to crop damage, fires and flash floods before it went away in 2016.

Last month the forecaster said neutral conditions were likely in the Northern Hemisphere through this fall.