El Niño winters bring Mission Ridge about 7% less snow than a typical winter.
Based on 14 El Niño winters since 1986: 5 of them beat Mission Ridge's median snowfall. But El Niño winters here vary a lot, so it's a weak tendency at best. Ranks #97 of 152 Western resorts for El Niño snowfall.
Checked against a real snow station: at the Upper Wheeler SNOTEL station, measured precipitation in El Niño winters ran −2% vs. its average (45 winters of measurements).
Snowfall each winter compared with Mission Ridge's 40-winter average, colored by what the Pacific was doing.
El Niño La Niña Neutral
Mid-mountain, November–April. Any single winter can buck the pattern; that's why we look at averages.
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