OpenSnow Meteorologist Alan Smith said this year Utah skiers and snowboarders should expect a neutral winter or a weak La Niña season.
La Niña refers to the large-scale ocean-atmosphere climate phenomenon linked to periodic cooling on the ocean’s surface across the central and east-central equator in the Pacific.
La Niña is the cooling phase of the cycle, meaning ocean water temperatures are cooler than average. In an El Niño phase, the water is warmer than average.
A neutral winter refers to periods when neither conditions are present.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s outlook for the 2025-2026 season projects roughly equal chances of La Niña or Neutral winter between October and January.
The outlook, along with other data points, tend to favor above-normal snowfall across northern portions of the continent while leaving western states like Utah, Nevada, California and Southern Oregon, with below-normal snowfall.
Temperatures are also expected to be above normal for the season in the southwest, including portions of Utah, California and Western Colorado.
But other “wild card” seasonal elements like warming trends in ocean temperatures could change that forecast.
Despite the bleak forecast, Smith said previous data from similar years — 1997 and 2017 — in Utah featured above-normal snowfall in the Wasatch Range.
The Wasatch Range in Utah receives the deepest snowfall in the Rockies on average.
Over the past 10 ski seasons, Utah has averaged 547 inches, even when most U.S. states don’t come close to seeing 400 inches of snowfall.
