How has El Nino affected Steamboat in the past?

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Permalink Reply by skisteamboat on September 10, 2009 at 5:14pm

Have no clue but in the 12 seasons I have lived in Steamboat, I have always had enough snow for anything I want to do on the Mountain. The Epic Years have been fabulous and the others just merely great.

Cheers

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Permalink Reply by Baggzy on September 11, 2009 at 10:33am

Ok, thanks. Previous El Nino winters in the last 12 years were 1997-8, 2002-3, 2004-5, and 2006-7. Any of those ring a bell as particularly good or bad? (Before these there was 1991-2 and 1994-5. Anyone else remember these?) If I lived in/near Steamboat I wouldn't worry, but I'm coming all the way from London...

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Permalink Reply by skisteamboat on September 11, 2009 at 1:10pm

IIRC, two years ago, (2008) I never saw the sun for six weeks since it was either snowing or going to snow. 1997 was another big year along with 99/00, .

Here's some info from the Resort:

"This season, snow has surpassed the fourth row of fence wires across the Yampa Valley. As Sureva Towler writes in her book, The History of Skiing at Steamboat Springs, “By January or February of a typical winter, snow will cover the third fence wire.” Four-wire winters, generally more than 350 inches of snow at the resort’s mid-mountain location, were recorded in 1983/84, 1989/90, 1992/93, 1995/96, 1996/97, 1999/2000, 2005/06, 2007/08 and now this year, 2008/09."

Like I said, there are Epic years and merely great years.

BTW, I will be in London the second week of Oct and know better than to ask what the weather will be since it can be anything from Rain to Sunny all in the same day or even couple of hours. ;)

Cheers

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Permalink Reply by patti (snowflake) on September 10, 2009 at 7:46pm

By the 3rd week of Jan you should be up to eyeballs in snow. I have been sking ther for almost 20 yrs and i have never been disappointed in the snow. One Jan we got over 6 feet of snow while we were there..1996. Make your plans and say your prayers..it will be great. sf

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Permalink Reply by Baggzy on September 11, 2009 at 10:38am

Thanks, Patti. I probably will just cross my fingers and hope for the best, because even a bad year in Steamboat is probably better than a good year in most places. But I like to know as much as possible before making a decision, to maximise my chances. It's worked well so far - in my last eight trips to the US I've had seven with 2ft to 5ft of fresh powder during our week, and only one with nothing. And I love powder... So if it's good I'll be back every year. :-)

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Permalink Reply by Dr Juice on September 11, 2009 at 1:54pm

I am a UK transplant, lived in Colorado for 9 years and counting. We have lots of friends come out from the UK to ski & ride with us at Steamboat. They might gripe about a few things when comparing skiing/riding in Europe to the US, but its NEVER the snow :)

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Permalink Reply by Baggzy on September 15, 2009 at 7:54am

Hi all! Ok, I'm convinced. My trip is all booked - I'll be coming to Steamboat 16th Jan! Pray for snow! :-)

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Permalink Reply by SteamboatRider on September 15, 2009 at 11:08am

Good choice!

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Permalink Reply by Ed F. (bpos2) on September 15, 2009 at 8:31pm

Great !!! I hope you encounter a lot of snow as I will be out there at the same time - Jan 15th - 19th. Booked my trip back in August.

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Permalink Reply by DamonWX on October 6, 2009 at 7:55pm

El Nino is forecasted this winter to be light/moderate with a slight chance of it becoming strong. However, for it to be considered a "true" El Nino, we must see conditions met for 3 months straight. El Nino conditions are usually not really pronounced until the winter seasons so the season will likely start normal and then you 'MAY' see a shift in the weather patterns during the mid and late season.. However, to be honest, the mountains are filled with micro-climates and thus these "forecasts" are made for a region and not pin-point towns/locations. I have been skiing for the past 20 years now and I can't remember a time when I went west that the snow wasn't good :)

-Damon

PS- If anyone is keeping up with my whereabouts, I am no longer a meteorologist in Texas anymore..I packed my bags and took up on a job doing the weather for the ABC station in Oklahoma City. I will be back providing more weather blogs for Steamboat.. stay tuned :)

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Permalink Reply by Baggzy on October 7, 2009 at 4:23am

Hi Damon. Thanks for the info! It's always good to get expert input. :-)

Looks like you may be right... I've been keeping an eye on the NOAO website and their CPC El Nino Advisory. It looks like the latest reading has dropped from 0.98 to 0.75. If I understand it correctly, that's unexpected. According to the CPC Advisory issued on 10 September 2009 it should be strengthening. Looking at previous El Nino's (second graph) suggests that it would be very unusual for it to fall then rise again. So maybe the El Nino condition will be gone, or very weak, by the time winter arrives. A new Advisory will be issued tomorrow (08 October 2009) so we'll see what they say...

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Permalink Reply by Cary on October 7, 2009 at 4:48pm

If you go back a little further than that, say 1987 - 167 inches and 1981 - 133 inches in Steamboat, I would say those were bad years, Ouch. I hope to never see a year like those.

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