Whenever I turn on the news these days, it seems like there is a dire warning about the growing El Niño shaping up in the Pacific Ocean, ready to wreak havoc on North America over the next few months. I’m not trying to be flippant about the seriousness of the weather pattern, or to minimize the impact it could have on large parts of the United States. Still, I can’t help but giggle a little when I hear the words “El Niño,” and it’s all because of a Saturday Night Live skit from decades ago starring Chris Farley. IYKYK, but if you don’t, stick with me.
The First Time I Heard The Term Was In 1997
I’m not a meteorologist, so I’m not going to even try to explain what causes the phenomenon. The USGA says:
The term El Niño refers to a warming of the ocean surface, or above-average sea surface temperatures, in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean.
All I know for sure is that it is an unusual weather pattern and that I was in college in the late ‘90s when I first heard the term “El Niño.” The one that occurred that year was big news in the media, and for a few months, it was all over TV and the early version of the internet. I don’t even specifically remember what kind of weather it produced over the next year, but it was certainly talked about all the time.
It was such a big deal that SNL couldn’t help but work it into a sketch, and unlike the weather in 1997, I clearly remember the sketch. I can’t take the weather seriously when all I can think about is Farley. Farley was the host that night, not a cast member, and sadly, it was just a few months before he died.
The Sketch Is Short But Sweet
The sketch opens with Will Ferrell as a host of a Weather Channel show who explains that the Weather Channel has satellite images of the weather phenomenon. Instead of a radar showing clouds, it’s Farley. It’s classic Farley, too. He’s shirtless, dressed like a professional wrestler, and channeling his inner Macho Man Randy Savage. He is as over-the-top as ever, as the weather pattern that had gobbled up all the ink in all the papers that year. There was nothing that could be done that Farley couldn’t do ten times bigger, including playing “El Niño.”
Still, all these decades later, I still find myself quoting him when he explains that “El Niño” is Spanish for…”The Niño.” It's one of the best Chris Farley quotes ever, if you ask me. So you’ll have to pardon me when I say I can’t watch a news report about a “Super El Niño” without thinking of an even bigger, badder, and more ridiculous version of the late Chris Farley saying “Super El Niño” over and over.
It’s tough to find a good version of the sketch on YouTube, but if you have a Peacock subscription, it’s easy to find the episode from October 25th, 1997 (Season 23, Episode 4 with Farley hosting and The Mighty Mighty Bosstones as the musical guests). It’s worth watching again, trust me, and I promise, as this weather system gets more serious, so will I.
