El Nino could deliver big snowfall to ski resorts in Chile, Southern Rockies

July 9, 2:18 PMSkiing ExaminerEric Wagnon

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Taos Ski Valley in New Mexico could be headed for a good
snowfall season in 2009-10.                       Photo: Taos Ski Valley

Forecasters from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced Thursday that El Nino is back. Affecting weather patterns, El Nino, the periodic warming of water in the tropical Pacific Ocean, is predicted to last through the winter of 2009-10. For skiers, El Nino often means more snow for resorts in South America and the Southern Rockies.

The NOAA scientists recorded Pacific sea surface temperatures that were at least 1 degree Celsius above average at the end of June. The ocean had been a neutral condition. The most recent El Nino occurred in 2006. The opposite of El Nino, a cooling of the water known as La Nina, tends to favor the Pacific Northwest and Northern Rockies in terms of snowfall. La Nina often follows an El Nino condition.

El Nino often means good snow at Ski Portillo in Chile.
                                           Photo: Ski Portillo/Grant Gunderson

Snowfall researcher Tony Crocker has extensively studied the effects of El Nino and La Nina on ski resorts. According to his website, El Nino is good news for South American resorts now in the midst of their ski season such as Las Lenas in Argentina and Ski Portillo in Chile.

For the upcoming winter in North America, Arizona Snowbowl, Taos Ski Valley in New Mexico, Brian Head Resort in southern Utah and Mammoth Mountain in the California Sierras could benefit from the El Nino condition.

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