Apr 20- El Niño next season? Larry live on Zoom April 22

14 hours ago
4 min read

DAILY DOSE OF DAYDREAM

"Shuksan Arm, the backcountry accessed from the top of Mt. Baker ski area. Look closely to see another group ahead of us, picking a line of fresh powder along this vast, steep terrain, with majestic Mt. Shuksan towering in the background. 4/4/23 with 10" of fresh powder."

Hello Skiers, and Snowboarders,

This past season certainly had its ups and downs as we were harassed with high snow levels, dry spells and wild stormy periods.

The promise for reliable Northwest snowfall was optimistic last fall. A La Niña was evolving, which typically favors us with respectable snowfall. But this season showed La Niña can be fickle. In our world of weather, nothing is guaranteed. Yes, I got in some good skiing, but really had to carefully cherry pick the days. This normally dependable La Niña was a dud.

We were burdened with a late start and marginal openings even into the late December holiday season. It really was the warmth which hurt us as precipitation fell with heavy rain. It was not cold enough for real snow or even nighttime snowmaking. Other problems included lowland historic floods. Even when we did get snow, subsequent high snow levels with rain degraded the thin snowpack. Strong storms produced road closures. Winds caused power outages. And there was the mid-season dry spell with little new snow through parts of January and February. March improved with a few good powder days. To get the good powder days you had to be flexible and move on it. The good news is, there were no reports of plagues or swarms of locusts.

I still got 20 days in, but I had to carefully choose those days. We certainly had it far better than Tahoe, Utah or Colorado with their record or near record low snowpack. There were some bright spots for ski travelers with good snow in parts of interior BC, Canadian Rockies, Alps and Japan.

It’s too early to guess with much confidence about next season. There are now forecasts which strongly point to an El Niño pattern next season, in fact a possible rare very strong El Niño. That pattern usually does not favor NW snowfall. But it’s not as simple as that. There are exceptions in the Northwest and it’s not a preordained snow bust, as I’ll show in the Zoom on Wednesday at 6:00 pm.

And by the way, what ski areas are favored with El Niño? Some are, and some are not. You’ll be surprised, as many ski areas are indifferent to the whims of El Niño. It’s all very complex and difficult to predict. Be cautious, the hype will be unending on this upcoming El Niño, magnified by all the new amateurs on social media, looking for clicks. Most will not explain the important nuances or context. For one, there is NO such thing as an El Niño storm. It may be a snow struggle for us in the NW, but it’s not a death sentence. I’ll show you in the Zoom meeting coming up, by comparing to previous big El Niño years.

Andrea, Michael and I will have more via Zoom on Wednesday April 22, 2026 at 6:00pm. Please join us for a more detailed review of this season and what next season might hold. All questions answered.

See you then.

….and as always, the Zoom will be a rip-roaring good time.

Larry Schick

Meteorologist

Grand Poobah of Powder

Wed, April 22 from 6:00 - 7:00pm

What El Niño really means for next winter. Your questions answered live.

Washington state snowpack: shows well below normal snowpack, but better North Cascades and Inland NW. This below normal snow pattern was consistent all season.

Next winter forecast (Dec, Jan, Feb) with El Niño as the driver shows above normal temperature (occasional high snow levels), with overall precipitation (snowfall) near or below normal (Inland NW)