North America — It’s officially winter forecast season, as weather outlets are beginning to predict what this upcoming ski season will be like. Whether these predictions are accurate is debatable, but they do distract skiers and riders while they wait for the first chair.
OpenSnow is one of the best sources for skiers and riders to figure out how much snow will fall at specific mountains. Yesterday, meteorologist Alan Smith from OpenSnow announced their official 2024-25 forecast.
In the forecast, he detailed that according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), there’s a 74% chance of a La Niña winter. It’s expected that La Niña will return this fall. Alan’s key point is that while many predicted that La Niña would return early on, it’s beginning to look like a weaker La Niña. A weak La Niña has only occurred six times since 1990, so it’s not a huge sample size. This is an exciting development for skiers and riders because the winter of 2022-23 happened during a weaker La Niña and was an absolute banger for much of the West.
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Due to the weak La Niña, OpenSnow predicts snowier conditions for the Adirondacks, Midwest, the northern Rockies, Utah, and California. Drier conditions are predicted for the Southwest, Pacific Northwest, and Southeast. In terms of New England, I imagine it’ll rain around Christmas time.
The biggest surprise from this prediction is that the Pacific Northwest will have a dry winter. While more robust La Niña winters produce lots of wet weather for the PNW, a weaker one produces less snowfall.
Click here to read OpenSnow’s 2024-25 forecast in full, which dives into the technicalities of La Niña, along with what each region can expect.
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Image Credits: OpenSnow