The outlook serves as a friendly reminder of the limited value of extended outlooks for doing any real planning for your ski season, vacation, or adventures. The skill of such outlooks is generally low and there's really little to help guide us this coming season since it is likely to be a "No Niño" winter (see No Niño Winter Likely Ahead). There may be a slight loading of the dice for a warmer winter and below average snowfall in warmer, lower elevation regions, but that's about it. There are equal chances of above average, average, or below average snowfall wherever you are planning to ski.
That also means that if you are looking for powder this winter in the contiguous U.S., the best odds are found, as usual, in the Cottonwoods, because of their highly favorable climatology. Globally, the best odds for powder are found in snowy regions of Japan's Honshu and Hokkaido Islands in January (see my book Secrets of the Greatest Snow on Earth). The challenge there is often not finding deep, but finding steep (and clear, at least in January). It's there though if you know where to look and are willing to earn your turns.
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| Professor Powder enjoying a rare January bluebird day in the Hida Mountains, Japan |
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