Farmer walking through soybean field at sunset

Hope is on the horizon for areas of the U.S. still suffering from crippling drought. El Niño’s return brings with it significant weather changes impacting much of the country this summer. The weather phenomenon is associated with warm ocean water. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) says signs of El Niño have grown stronger throughout May.

Forecasters have now increased their confidence that the likelihood of El Niño approaching this summer is at 90% or more. While past weather headlines talk of the historic heat the shift in weather can bring, it also tends to bring favorable growing conditions in the Midwest. Since 1970, the U.S. has seen 17 El Niño summers, 14 of which had trendline or higher yields.

Read more on El Niño here.