Parts of the country will enjoy a great ski season this year ( . Richardson/Getty Images) You’ve probably heard about the weather phenomenon called Super El Niño, which climate scientists predict will impact winter weather. And if you’re a skier, this year’s Super El Niño could bring some pretty good news, with parts of the American West expected to get more snow than usual.
According to the 2026-27 winter forecast by AccuWeather, a U.S. weather prediction service, parts of the Sierra Nevada, Great Basin, Wasatch Range, and Central Rockies could see above-average snowfall this season, with parts of the Southern Rockies also expected to get more snow than last winter (which, let’s be real, wouldn’t really be hard to do). Meanwhile, much of the Northeast, Midwest, and Pacific Northwest might not be so lucky. AccuWeather’s lead long-range forecaster Paul Pastelok told Outside that California, Utah, and Colorado should all have favorable skiing conditions this winter, though California could experience more frequent storms and greater travel disruptions.
Pastelok told Outside that the term Super El Niño isn’t an official scientific classification. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) categorizes El Niño events as weak, moderate, strong or very strong, depending on how much warmer than normal the tropical Pacific Ocean becomes. Every few years, waters in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean become unusually warm.
That extra heat changes where air rises, clouds form and rain falls, which can alter weather patterns thousands of miles away. One of the biggest changes involves the jet stream, a band of fast-moving winds high in the atmosphere that acts a bit like a highway for storms. During an El Niño winter, that highway typically shifts farther south, steering more storms and precipitation toward California and the southern United States.
Meanwhile, northern states tend to experience warmer, drier conditions. What makes this year’s El Niño super is the strength of the warming. In its October 8 outlook, NOAA estimated an 83 percent chance that this El Niño would surpass the strength of every event in its historical record dating back to 1950 during the October-to-December period.
Here’s where AccuWeather expects the snow to fall, and what that means for skiers. California could see repeated bouts of heavy mountain snow as a series of Pacific storms, including atmospheric rivers, moves inland. Pastelok expects several atmospheric rivers to arrive during the winter, specifically during the middle and latter parts of the season.
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