El Nino unlikely to hit by year-end

There is little chance the potentially devastating El Nino weather phenomenon will return before the end of the year, the UN's weather agency said on November 22. Despite a slight warming of sea surface temperatures in the tropical Pacific ocean in August and early September - an element to El Nino's development - other factors, including wind and cloud patterns had failed to respond.
The El Nino phenomenon occurs every two to seven years.