NASA’s October 15 update brings together satellite measurements of ocean height, surface temperature and ocean colour to examine the developing 2026 El Niño. The climate pattern involves unusually warm water in parts of the equatorial Pacific.

Sentinel-6 altimetry helps researchers follow movements of warm water and changes in sea level. NASA describes warm-water pulses moving eastward across the Pacific and a weakening or reversal of the trade winds that normally move in the opposite direction.

Other satellite instruments measure heat at the ocean surface. The review reports eastern-Pacific water temperatures about 1.7 degrees Celsius above the long-term average, while emphasizing continued monitoring as conditions evolve.

PACE ocean-colour observations provide another view: reduced nutrient-rich upwelling can diminish phytoplankton, changing the colour of surface waters and affecting the marine food web. Ocean colour is one indicator, not a direct count of all marine life.

These measurements help explain a large-scale climate process. They do not establish exactly how much rain a particular city will receive or whether any single future storm will occur; local decisions still require location-specific forecasts.