El Niño winters bring Vail about about the same snow than a typical winter.
Based on 14 El Niño winters since 1986: 7 of them beat Vail's median snowfall. But El Niño winters here vary so much that there's no clear pattern. Ranks #43 of 152 Western resorts for El Niño snowfall.
Checked against a real snow station: at the Vail Mountain SNOTEL station, measured precipitation in El Niño winters ran −1% vs. its average (48 winters of measurements).
Snowfall each winter compared with Vail'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.
← All resorts: El Niño map & rankings Vail climate change profile →