Argentine national park officials took precautionary action on Monday as the flow of the Iguazu River exceeded 12,000 cubic meters per second — more than six times the average — amid concerns that rapidly rising water could push the river over its banks.
Heavy rain driven by a large-scale El Niño weather pattern forced Argentine authorities to temporarily close the famous Iguazu Falls area to tourists. The national park administration later said the site would reopen to visitors on Tuesday, citing the river's flow rate having "gradually decreased."
José María Hervás, director of Iguazu National Park, said the closure was due to "it just raining and raining" and to water releases from dams upstream on the Iguazu River not letting up, according to the Buenos Aires Times.
Iguazu Falls, recognized by UNESCO as one of the world's largest and most spectacular waterfalls, sits on the border between Argentina and Brazil and stretches roughly 2,700 meters.
In 2023 and 2024, Argentine officials closed the section of the national park on the country's territory because of flooding caused by an earlier El Niño cycle.
Meteorologists say the 2026-2027 El Niño, which drives global shifts in winds and rainfall as well as erratic weather conditions, is certain to be the strongest ever recorded. Scientists also now believe that human-caused global warming is making El Niño more intense.
El Niño begins in the equatorial Pacific, where changes in winds allow a large amount of heat to escape from the ocean and warm the atmosphere. The phenomenon develops in the Northern Hemisphere autumn, peaks in December but continues to have effects into the following year.
Last month, Argentina's national meteorological agency said the country's coastal region had recorded above-average rainfall, "similar to what has been seen during strong El Niño events."
