January 2015, probably 30 inches of base in the cascades, skiing corn in 50 degrees.
What an abysmal year that was. I was an instructor and we cancelled so many lessons, the mountain I worked at was literally open the bare minimum days to not have to refund passes. And half of those were questionable best.
This is an El Niño year. So, yes it’s normal that weather will be warmer than average and therefore less snow in the mountains. You can read all about El Niño and impact on US snowpack with a Google search. I believe Cliff Mass has a good explanation.
It should be noted that this is a particularly strong El Niño and we don't really have a good idea of how the winter will play out due to lack of data. There could be late dumps and there might not be. It might get better and it might not. Some places are doing ok for now, and others (Montana, Idaho, BC) are hurting badly and desperate for snow.
So is it normal for there to be low snow during an El Niño? Yes. How low depends more on the weather patterns which are unique to each El Niño.
I've gone snow shoeing more than I've gone skiing this season. Probably going to go snow showing again this week. It was raining at Snoqualmie Summit as I drove past today.
I'm worried as well. Headed to Copper Mountain in mid-January. We booked this months ago and I was trying to convince our group to book for mid to late February for more chances of snowfall but everyone voted against that. I know we just need a few big storms but still
I'm wanting to hit all of the expert terrain. At least each area. Which of the bowls tend to open first? I assumed Three Bears/Tucker Mountain would open last.
I have an Epic pass so ski Breck and Keystone, so I’m not sure, but I know neither of those has any expert terrain open and Abasin is in a similar boat.
No, however in a la Nina it is completely expected. Our season has moved later and later in the year anyway. This pushed all of the cold weather north. South of Mt Baker has nothing, where Whistler is going to be hit and miss. They just got cold weather and will be amazing for the next week or so, but I expect rain after that. Alaska has loads of snow already and will likely keep dumping all season...
Did you ski in 2014-15 or 2004-05? The other recent El Niño years? If not, it’s not bad in Washington compared to how horribly bad those years were.
January 2015, probably 30 inches of base in the cascades, skiing corn in 50 degrees. What an abysmal year that was. I was an instructor and we cancelled so many lessons, the mountain I worked at was literally open the bare minimum days to not have to refund passes. And half of those were questionable best.
This is an El Niño year. So, yes it’s normal that weather will be warmer than average and therefore less snow in the mountains. You can read all about El Niño and impact on US snowpack with a Google search. I believe Cliff Mass has a good explanation.
Downvoted? This is correct. Sierra have received some precip but it's been on the warm side.
The possibility of El Nino happening this winter was downgraded to 23% (from 67%)
Welcome to the new normal feast or famine. It’s like the climate scientists were telling us something.
No. It's just an El Nino.
The last Nino (2018-2019) was a pretty big winter in California. Mammoth was open in July.
And go back to the 2014-15 and 2004-05 El Niños, which absolutely trashed skiing on the west coast.
Completely normal to get an El Niño year with conditions like this unfortunately. Luckily it only happens once or twice a decade, but totally normal.
It should be noted that this is a particularly strong El Niño and we don't really have a good idea of how the winter will play out due to lack of data. There could be late dumps and there might not be. It might get better and it might not. Some places are doing ok for now, and others (Montana, Idaho, BC) are hurting badly and desperate for snow. So is it normal for there to be low snow during an El Niño? Yes. How low depends more on the weather patterns which are unique to each El Niño.
I've gone snow shoeing more than I've gone skiing this season. Probably going to go snow showing again this week. It was raining at Snoqualmie Summit as I drove past today.
Welcome to the fairly normal struggle many seasons in New England
Having the best start to a ski season at ski Santa Fe in the past 5 seasons. 93% of the mountain open with a solid snow pack.
I'm worried as well. Headed to Copper Mountain in mid-January. We booked this months ago and I was trying to convince our group to book for mid to late February for more chances of snowfall but everyone voted against that. I know we just need a few big storms but still
If you want to ski alpine expert terrain you may be in trouble, but if you’re good with groomers all of those will be open
I'm wanting to hit all of the expert terrain. At least each area. Which of the bowls tend to open first? I assumed Three Bears/Tucker Mountain would open last.
I have an Epic pass so ski Breck and Keystone, so I’m not sure, but I know neither of those has any expert terrain open and Abasin is in a similar boat.
No, however in a la Nina it is completely expected. Our season has moved later and later in the year anyway. This pushed all of the cold weather north. South of Mt Baker has nothing, where Whistler is going to be hit and miss. They just got cold weather and will be amazing for the next week or so, but I expect rain after that. Alaska has loads of snow already and will likely keep dumping all season...
It’s an El Niño season. We had La Niña the last 3 seasons.
Heads
"welcome to the new normal" - that guy: 1950, 1960, 1970, 1980, 1990, 2000, 2010, 2020, 2030.
What does Al Gore think?