Colorado had a huge dump of snow last weekend, piling on several feet of crisp powder that is ideal for skiing. National forecasters say it's a sign of things to come 鈥� Colorado and the mountain areas to the south will have more snow than usual this winter.
鈥淭hrough about the Christmas time, we should see below average snowfall,鈥� said Russell Danielson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Boulder, Colorado. 鈥淏ut then looking later into the winter 鈥� January, February, especially March 鈥� we are expecting above normal snowfall conditions, which would be pretty good for snow for the ski season.鈥�
North of Colorado, the forecast is drier. Snow will still be arriving in the northern Rockies, but perhaps a bit less than usual due to the El Ni帽o conditions.
鈥淎nd that's a very typical El Ni帽o pattern. Then farther north up into Washington, Idaho, Montana, we're looking at below normal snowfall this year,鈥� Danielsen said.
He says it鈥檚 still a toss-up on whether there鈥檒l be snow for the holidays. 鈥淚 would say odds probably lean towards not having a white Christmas. But again, it is too far out to tell.鈥�
It鈥檚 important to remember that these are big-picture trends, and they cover a large region far into the future. Any of these areas could still see large winter storms 鈥� or even an unexpected dry spell.
