El Nino in New Zealand as strong as 1997-98 "super El Nino"

New Zealand is experiencing an El Nino that is nearly as strong as the "super El Nino" which ravaged the country's West Coast in 1997-98, The New Zealand Herald reports.

An official at New Zealand's National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research has said that the current El Nino could already be classed as "strong" and is likely to bring more rain than usual to the coast over the next three months.

Data has shown that the current El Nino had strengthened and is now ranked as strong as the "super El Ninos" of 1982-83 and 1997-98.

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