Aerial view of Iguazu Falls (Foz de Iguaçu), normal flow, Nov 2005 (photo from Wikimedia)

25 October 2026

El Niño, a spate of very warm sea surface temperature in the Pacific, routinely triggers extreme weather events, droughts and floods. This year’s El Niño is now labeled a Super El Niño because of its intensity.

Still image of the most recent sea surface temperature (SST) anomaly data available (map from NASA Scientific Visualization Studio)

South America is always hardest hit. This month El Niño caused a major flood at the enormous Iguazu Falls on the border of Brazil and Argentina, pictured at top.

Location of Iguazu Falls in South America (map from Wikimedia)

Normally the falls looks like this, as seen in drone footage from November 2016. (Notice the sightseeing walkway at center below the Play button.)

This week heavy rain upstream has swelled the falls to 10 times its normal flow.

Don’t mess with El Niño!