There's a topic on every surfer's lips right now; will El Niño happen this year? Looking at the climate drivers, and how that's set to materialize over the next few months, there is an increasingly strong possibility that El Niño will emerge, the first time since March 2024. Depending on where you live, El Niño can be a huge surf blessing in the making. Some dazzling sessions have gone down during an El Niño, with notable waves of consequence becoming super-charges to crazy proportions. But what exactly is an El Niño? What does it mean for surfing? And how does one form? Let's dig in. What Is An El Niño? The short explanation is; El Niño is the large-scale warming of the sea surface temperatures across the central and eastern fringes of the Pacific Ocean. This is caused by the trade winds weakening in the South Pacific, which allows water to warm up – essentially creating a warm pool of water. This then drifts across the Ocean and up towards Japan, disrupting weather patterns across the planet.…