A spear of exceedingly warm sea surface temperatures projected across a large portion of the equatorial Pacific Ocean in early October — a signature of the strong El Niño event now underway. (Source: NOAA) Back in August, a respected NASA scientist told the LA. Times that conditions in the Pacific Ocean were pointing toward the potential for a "Godzilla El Niño." Meanwhile, a science blogger for the NOAA nicknamed it "Bruce Lee." Time has proved them right. The latest data released by the U.S. Climate Prediction Center, show that if El Niño continues to develop as forecast, it will go down as one of the most muscular on record. But really, who cares about data on exceedingly warm sea surface temperatures projecting like a spear across a large portion of the equatorial Pacific? (Okay, I do. See above.) Or the weakening of the trade winds along the equator? Or any of the other factors that go into El Niño forecasts? What most folks probably want to know is what's going to happen where they live. And here's precisely where things get trickier than some of the things you may have been hearing. Some of the stuff I've heard is just dang silly — and worse. For example, back in August a Denver TV meteorologist had this to say about how Colorado ski areas will be affected by El Niño:
I think Wolf Creek will be the king this season with 140 percent of normal snowfall. Telluride, Durango and Silverton are in good position and should end up with 100 percent to 120 percent of normal snowfall.
