A wave of warm El Nino weather is expected to sweep across Canada later this year, meaning a milder winter for much of the country.

It could also mean more severe weather conditions across the continent.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the United States has identified an unusually warm pocket of water in the Pacific Ocean that could trigger a surge of warm temperatures across North America.

When it takes effect, the El Nino phenomenon can divert jet streams, change precipitation patterns, and alter wind flow. El Ninos are also believed to suppress hurricanes.

Meteorologist Jay Anderson said El Nino in 2014 has the potential to be more severe than 1997, when it triggered a number of weather disasters across the continent.

“It’s really a major injection of energy and moisture into the atmosphere and has all these wide-ranging effects,” Anderson told CTV’s Canada AM Wednesday.

In 1997, El Nino was blamed for causing more than $33 billion in damage, and leading to the deaths of more than 23,000 people. The January, 1998 ice storm that hit parts of Ontario and Quebec, for example, has been linked to El Nino.

Anderson said El Nino could have a “massive impact” this year, once the warm water rises to the surface of the Pacific.

Canadians can expect the El Nino to bring warmer weather and heavy snowfall to Western Canada in October, Anderson said. That warmth will spread east through the winter season before fading away next April.

“In the meantime, we should enjoy some pretty nice temperatures,” Anderson said. “For those of us in Canada, most of what happens with a good El Nino is pretty positive.”

Countries at southern latitudes tend to suffer more negative impacts from an El Nino, Anderson said. He believes the chances of an El Nino occurring are between 50 and 80 per cent.