Record El Niño forming: quiet tropics, stormy winter

The US Climate Prediction Center puts the odds at 75% that the current El Niño becomes a historic event, stronger than anything recorded since 1950, according to Insurance Journal. It is already bending weather patterns worldwide, and forecasters expect it to keep building.

El Niño works in your favor during hurricane season. Stronger wind shear over the Atlantic tends to pull storms apart before they organize, which fits the unusually quiet season Florida has had so far. Winter is the other half of the pattern. El Niño winters in Florida and along the Gulf Coast typically run wetter and stormier, with more severe thunderstorms and a higher tornado risk. Rain flooding is the gap that catches people: rising water is a flood claim, not a homeowners claim, and a new NFIP policy usually waits 30 days before it takes effect.

A quiet stretch is the right time to close that gap. An independent agent can price flood coverage for your address now, so the waiting period is behind you before the winter pattern sets in.