UNITED STATES – This past ski season felt like nothing compared to the season before, or even the season before that. There are a whole host of conditions that impact winter weather across North America, but the not-so-great season could be partially attributed to the El Niño pattern that held strong throughout the winter. Things will likely be a bit different this year, though, with the National Weather Service pointing towards high chances of La Niña’s return.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), El Niño and La Niña are two opposing climate patterns that break the Pacific ocean’s normal trade wind patterns. In El Niño, trade winds weaken, warm water in the Pacific is pushed east, and the Pacific jet stream moves south of neutral. The northern Untied States and Canada are both dryer and warmer than usual, while the southeast and Gulf Coast are wetter than usual.
La Niña, on the other hand, means stronger trade winds across the Pacific. As a result, the warm waters are pushed west towards Asia, cold water is brought to the surface off the west coast of America, and the jet stream is pushed north. The southern U.S. tends to be warmer dryer during a La Niña year, while the northern United States and Canada tends to be colder and wetter.
The National Weather Service currently has a 70% chance of La Niña emerging from August-October, and a 79% of the climate pattern sticking around through November-January. Again, it’s hard to say how this will actually impact the ski season, whether it for sure means more snow in some places and less snow it others, and how strong it will actually be, but it is something to consider.
2021 and 2022 were both La Niña years. 2017-2020 were all neutral, with little influence from either of the climate patterns, while 2016 (not a great year for skiers and snowboarders, if you can think back that far) was an El Niño year.
