Get ready for snow!
In October, skiers and riders had high hopes for winter after Colorado ski resorts got hit with a big snowstorm. The season quickly petered out, though, with few resorts getting the kind of snow Coloradans normally brag about.
Meteorologist Jack Boston doesn’t think skiers will be heartbroken two years in a row.
“You had that early-season wallop and then nothing much after that. This year is going to be different,” said Boston, expert senior meteorologist with AccuWeather, a weather service with headquarters in State College, Pa.
Boston said conditions will be favorable for snowfall in the Colorado mountains starting in late September and continuing through at least November. Ski resorts should be able to build up a decent snowpack early in the season, he said.
The big shift from warm and dry weather in Colorado dating back to March to cooler and wetter conditions will be triggered by an El Niño replacing a La Niña weather system, Boston said. In an El Niño, the water in the Pacific Ocean along the equator warms up and influences the world’s climate.
AccuWeather put out its fall forecast Monday with an eye-catching headline for Colorado skiing enthusiasts: “Fall 2012: Snow for the Rockies; Warmth Grips Midwest, Northeast.”
“The central and southern Rockies, spanning the Four Corners region, may be a hot spot for snow by the middle of the season,” AccuWeather’s fall forecast said. While the forecast said snow could start falling as soon as early to mid-October, Boston said he is forecasting snow as early as late September for Colorado’s higher elevations. That early snow might melt off, he said, but colder conditions and continued snowfall will settle in during October.
Raj Singh, right, and his wife, Rashna Batliwala Singh, talked Tuesday, August 7, 2012 in their Colorado Springs home, about some of the difficulties of living as a Sikh in America. “Although most people in this city are friendly and warm-hearted, we also encounter antagonism and ill-will,” Rashna said. Photo by MARK REIS, THE GAZETTE
AccuWeather released its fall forecast Monday and summarized it with this map. Photo by Courtesy of AccuWeather and Aspen Times