The countdown to ski season has begun, sprinklings of that fine white powder are pervading the Alps marking the end of the summer and the beginning of one of the best times of year

Oct 30, 2015

The countdown to the ski season has begun, sprinklings of that fine white powder are pervading the Alps marking the end of the summer and the beginning of one of the best times of year. Let’s face it a snowy winter is romantic, cosying up in a warm chalet before a roaring fire after rocking the pistes for a day is blissful.

Mike Halpert, the deputy director of the NOAA (National Oceania and Atmospheric Administration) Climate Prediction Center, has stated that “this could be among the strongest El Niños in the historical record dating back to 1950.” It is considered to be the strongest in about 50 years. This is of course exciting news for all of us skiers and snowboarders as Europe will see more snow than the average winter months provide us at the moment.

But why is this? Basically the tropical regions in the Pacific Ocean warm up and change the weather patterns of the western ocean every 2 – 7 years, this is known as an El Nino. It is thought that this will be persistent through the winter months and continue to spring next year according to the NOAA. Bill Patzert a Jet Propulsion Laboratory Climatologist from NASA reported that, “At the moment, this year’s El Niño is stronger than it was at this time of year in 1997”

Previous El Nino conditions have provided ‘powder day after powder day’ causing amazing ski conditions across the Alps and now that the World Meteorological Organisation is predicting this for 2015 as one of the strongest on record, there has never been a better time to don your skis and book your trip of a lifetime.