The Washington Post article
here.

As of this week, the average of the group of forecast models used
to predict the intensity of El Niño are calling for an event that would surpass
the record-strong El Niño of 1997-1998.

El Nino, which is a measure of how abnormally warm the tropical Pacific Ocean
is, can be classified as “very strong” if surface waters are running at least 2
degrees Celsius warmer than average for at least three months in a row. While
this can be a difficult metric to achieve — it’s only happened twice before —
it’s looking more like this year will not only jump that hurdle, but also
surpass the old record.