Could La Nina affect ski season?
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- Created on Wednesday, 29 September 2010 15:15
- Written by R. Scott Rappold
I’ve been reading with mounting trepidation reports of a strengthening La Nina weather pattern this fall.
No, not because I’m a weather geek. But La Nina, the cooling of tropical Pacific Ocean waters, can have a very drastic effect on ski season in Colorado. Last winter saw a strong El Nino – La Nina’s evil twin – that sent many of the early- and mid-season snowstorms to the south. Remember the news stories about British Columbia ski resorts with no snow on the eve of the Vancouver Olympics?
It was great news for New Mexico and Wolf Creek and Monarch skiers, but not-so-good for Summit County.
La Nina could have the opposite effect, and keep southern Colorado dry.
Check out these seasonal outlook maps from the National Weather Service (the tan is where below-average precipitation is expected):
And December-February:
And, finally, February-April:
Temperatures are also expected to be warmer than average for southern Colorado for the entire winter.
I’m not saying you should go out and pick your ski pass based on this, and Colorado weather can be tough to predict hour-by-hour, much less month-to-month. It just seems like a good idea, if you are a powder hound, to be ready to have some flexibility in where you ski this season.
Of course, if you are a powder hound, you probably already do.
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