El Niño winters bring Northstar about 1% less snow than a typical winter.
Based on 14 El Niño winters since 1986: 8 of them beat Northstar's median snowfall. But El Niño winters here vary so much that there's no clear pattern. Ranks #52 of 152 Western resorts for El Niño snowfall.
Checked against a real snow station: at the Truckee #2 SNOTEL station, measured precipitation in El Niño winters ran −6% vs. its average (46 winters of measurements).
Snowfall each winter compared with Northstar'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 Northstar climate change profile →