New data from NOAA this month has shown that this year’s El Niño has a 70% chance to be the strongest event on record, topping a similar event back in the 1980s. It’s also more likely that this strengthening El Niño could make next year one of the hottest in record for some parts of the world. Sea surface temperatures in the Pacific are forecast to rise to 3.5 degrees C above average – with the last strong El Niño seeing this number rise to 2.4 degrees C, a staggering difference. Latest Sea Surface Temperature watch from NOAA. So what does this mean for surfing? We already know El Niño’s impact on surf zones across the South Pacific; the warming sea temperatures helps incubate conditions that lead towards more powerful storms and in turn, larger swells. But add a stick of dynamite to them and what’s the result?…