Northwest snow season wrap up.

 

This will be the final NW Open Snow ski weather update from me, for the 2013-14 season. 

On this date (April 20) several NW areas remain open and several will stay open through May. If you want classic spring skiing in late April and May I favor Mt Baker, Crystal (weekends), Whistler and Bachelor. There is limited skiing at Whistler and Mt Hood - Timberline through summer. Call for details.

It was a strange snow year for the NW, with a slow start and near record low snowpack by Christmas continuing into early February.  The North Cascades (Mt Baker) of Washington and Whistler faired better, while Oregon was stuck on the edge of the California record drought. A large, persistent and unusually configured high pressure diverted the storm track elsewhere  - like the Rockies and points eastward. By mid February into mid March the storm track took aim at the NW and the Cascade snow machine really got cranking. By April 1, and many powder days later, the snowpack climbed back to near normal in the Cascades.

Next season an El Nino may develop and that tilts the odds toward a lower than normal snow season for 2014 -15. BUT the suppressing snowfall effect is not as dramatic for the NW, as most people believe. The “signal” is really not that strong, but a 5-15% decrease in snowfall could be seen. Remember, you never know what month the bulk of the snowfall will come – look at this year. El Nino effects tend to be focused between mid December and early February. 

 

See ya next fall when the snow flies again.

 

larry

 

Larry Schick

 

Checkout Liftopia for Discount Lift Tickets