According to the U.S. space agency NASA, the effects of this year's El Niño weather phenomenon could match those of 1997.

The agency's Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL) released a photo Tuesday, which displayed ocean-warming data collected from its Jason-2 satellite.

The image is contrasted with a photo taken by Jason-2's predecessor in December 1997 of the last large El Niño event.

"The images show nearly identical, unusually high sea surface heights along the equator in the central and eastern Pacific: the signature of a big and powerful El Niño. Higher-than-normal sea surface heights are an indication that a thick layer of warm water is present," read a report on NASA's website.

El Niños are weather events trigged by the weakening of Pacific trade winds and the warming of the upper ocean in the central equatorial Pacific. They occur every two to seven years, and can last as long as 12 months, peaking toward the end of the calendar year. It often has drastic effects on climate and weather conditions worldwide.

The report notes that the current El Niño has reduced rainfall in Southeast Asia, delayed monsoon cycles in India, damaged coral reefs, and caused droughts in South Africa. Crop growth has also been affected by the droughts and flooding, leading to higher food prices.

The U.S. may already be experiencing the early effects of El Niño, with the Southern and Midwest regions of the country being slammed with heavy rain and snow throughout the week. However, the report predicts the biggest impacts to come in early 2016.

"In 2014, the current El Niño teased us -- wavering off and on," NASA JPL scientist Josh Willis said. "But in early 2015, atmospheric conditions changed, andEl Niño steadily expanded in the central and eastern Pacific. Although the sea surface height signal in 1997 was more intense and peaked in November of that year, in 2015, the area of high sea levels is larger. This could mean we have not yet seen the peak of this El Niño ."

The last great El Niño caused a massive ice storm in January 1998, crippling much of New England. Meanwhile, a series of storms struck along the Southern U.S. from California to Florida. Only time will tell what this coming year will bring.