El Niño (ehl NEEN-yo) means “little boy” in Spanish.

It’s not really a boy, of course. It’s a climate pattern. El Niño happens when water in part of the Pacific Ocean gets extra warm. (The boy has a sister too. Her name is La Niña. She shows up when the water grows unusually cool.)

Weather scientists watch. They know El Niño is an irregular guest. Sometimes he shows up every two years. Sometimes he comes every seven years. And sometimes it’s anytime in between. People can guess what El Niño will do. But they can’t be sure. He’s not a fully predictable cycle like ocean tides are.

So what will the boy bring this year?

Meteorologists disagree. Some say, “Look out! El Niño is coming early! He’ll be big. He’ll get sloppy. He’ll make the world hot, hot, hot.” They say this year’s pattern formed a month or two earlier than it usually does. He has “room to grow.”

Weather watchers keep eyes on an imaginary rectangle of water south of Hawaii—right along the Equator. Does that spot measure at least 0.9 degrees above normal for three months in a row? If so, they say, “El Niño is here!” If it measures more than 2.7 degrees hotter than usual, they say, “El Niño is going to be strong!”

So will “little boy” be a “big boy” this time? We wait and see.

When He utters His voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, and He makes the mist rise from the ends of the Earth. He makes lightning for the rain, and He brings forth the wind from His storehouses. — Jeremiah 10:13

Why? God rules the weather. We can guess what might happen, but only He knows for sure.