Winter Park Snow Conditions 2009-2010 Ski Season - It's an El Nino Year!

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has an article on El Nino weather on the 9th Published in July 2009. El Niño is the periodic warming of the tropical central and eastern Pacific waters, occurs on average every two to five years and usually lasts about 12 months. This confirms that the beginning, if not all, of the ski season 2009/2010 in Winter Park, the El Niño weather conditions will continue. What does this mean for us as a skier?

El Niño impacts depend on a variety ofFactors such as the intensity and extent of warming of the oceans, and the time of the year. Contrary to popular belief, not all effects are negative. On a positive side, El Niño, helps to suppress Atlantic hurricane season. In the United States, but does not typically provide positive winter rainfall to the arid southwest, less winter weather on the North and a reduced risk of forest fires, Florida.

Expected impact of El Niño in the August-October 2009 are reflected on the medium-and improvedwest-central Pacific Ocean and the continuation of drier than average conditions in Indonesia. Temperature and precipitation effects in the United States are weak in general, while the northern hemisphere summer and early autumn, and usually in the late fall and winter strengthened. El Nino may help to suppress Atlantic hurricane activity by increasing the vertical wind shear over the Caribbean Sea and tropical Atlantic.

For Winter Park, forecasters say, as a rule withan El Niño, there are already plenty of snow followed by a dry period in spring and then a lot of snow. However, here is a response from the last El Niño. On 29 December 2006 was written this:

Say "look out my window today after pushing snow for a week, I would predict it a little wrong. We have more than 30 inches, snow in the last 24 hours - about a ski resort to open in my backyard."

This would be right at the time they called for the dryPeriod.

So let's do our little dance a little snow and hope that El Niño dumps large and often here in Winter Park Resort.