El Niño winters bring Donner Ski Ranch about about the same snow than a typical winter.
Based on 14 El Niño winters since 1986: 8 of them beat Donner Ski Ranch's median snowfall. But El Niño winters here vary so much that there's no clear pattern. Ranks #48 of 152 Western resorts for El Niño snowfall.
Checked against a real snow station: at the Css Lab SNOTEL station, measured precipitation in El Niño winters ran −5% vs. its average (43 winters of measurements).
Snowfall each winter compared with Donner Ski Ranch'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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