UPDATE 1-El Nino conditions to continue through Northern Hemisphere winter- US forecaster

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Dec 14 (Reuters) - El Nino is expected to continue through the Northern Hemisphere winter, with a 60% chance of a transition to ENSO-neutral favored during April-June next year, the National Weather Service's Climate Prediction Center (CPC) said on Thursday.

El Nino is a warming of ocean surface temperatures in the eastern and central Pacific, and can provoke extreme weather phenomena from wildfires to tropical cyclones and prolonged droughts.

The weather phenomenon is already spurring calamities across the globe, with the stakes seen higher for emerging markets more exposed to swings in food and energy prices.

Zimbabwe's

staple maize harvest

is expected to halve in 2024 while the Philippines is tempering its

economic growth outlook

as the El Nino weather phenomenon takes its toll.

BMI in a note highlighted that El Nino anxieties continue to provide robust price support to most major soft commodities markets.

"The reason why sugar, cocoa, and rice prices remain elevated, is the anxiety surrounding the now-active El Niño event."

Meanwhile,

Japan's weather bureau

said on Monday that there was a 90% chance the El Nino phenomenon will continue during the northern hemisphere winter.

(Reporting by Ashitha Shivaprasad in Bengaluru; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)