El Nino of 1997-98

Marilyn Lane tries to shut a door as a wave rushes into her Solimar Beach home during a January 1998 storm.

(Alan Hagman / Los Angeles Times)

Aug. 13, 2015 11:03 AM PT

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The importance of the El Niño storm of 1997-1998 is now coming into focus as scientists say the weather pattern is returning to Southern California with a vengeance.

Snow forms a backdrop to the Hollywood sign after an El Niño storm in 1998.

(Ken Lubas / Los Angeles Times)

Waves crash into homes along Broad Beach in Malibu .

(Ken Lubas / Los Angeles Times)

The Ventura County Fairgrounds is flooded after an El Niño storm.

(Carlos Chavez / Los Angeles Times)

Wood lines San Buenaventura State Beach as a crew cleans up the debris left behind by the storms that accompaned El Niño earlier in this year.

(Carlos Chavez / Los Angeles Times)

A surfer throws up his arms after catching a double-overhead wave at Cloudbreak, south of the Seal Beach Pier.

(Al Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

The Ventura River overflowed after heavy rains in 1998, closing the 101 Freeway for several hours.

(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

An apartment building in Ventura collapsed after heavy rains in 1998.

(Spencer Weiner / Los Angeles Times)

Andy Harvey, a Ventura County sheriff’s search and rescue team member, swims to a partially submerged vehicle that washed down the Ventura River during in 1998. The vehicle turned out to be unoccupied.

(Steve Osman / Los Angeles Times)