El Niño Returns! Print E-mail
Written by Geneviève   
Monday, 21 September 2009 09:17

Washington, DC (Mtn Press)-According to the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the climate is in an "El Niño" condition now and that condition is expected to last through Winter 2009/10. Both 1995/96 and 2005/06 were El Niño winters and ski participation levels for those seasons were excellent.

Snowfall amounts change during different stages of the winter in several areas of the U.S. depending on whether El Niño or La Niña conditions exist in the equatorial Pacific. The most significant changes in snowfall occur in the Northwest, Northeast, Ohio Valley, Midwest and northern Texas.

The Sierras in Northern California and Nevada, the Rocky Mountains in Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico, and the southern and northern ends of the Appalachian chain that run from Maine to North Carolina, get more snow than average in an El Niño year. The Cascades, particularly in Washington areas that usually get "lake effect" snowfall and parts of Montana, Wyoming and Idaho, tend to get less than average snowfall.

 

Photo Credit: NASA