Photo: Ski Portillo Chile
Ski resorts in Chile typically kick off their season in mid to late-June, but winter wasn’t exactly providing, even deep into July. Then it started dumping last week and the atmospheric river that started it all still hasn’t calmed down. More than a week into a storm system that started bringing snow on July 16, parts of the Andes have seen more than 15 feet of snow.
Ski resorts like La Parva, Ski Portillo, and El Colorado in Chile reported more than 100 inches of snowfall in the first five days of the massive storm, surpassing forecasts that were already pretty extreme in the first place. Portillo called the duration and the intensity of the storm “very unusual” when it announced a temporary, indefinite closure on Monday as a result of the extreme snowfall.
According to Powderchasers, the atmospheric river has brought entire season totals worth of snowfall to some resorts in South America in just a matter of days – and pointed out there is more on the way in the following week.
“From late Friday through Friday, July 31, a conservative additional snowfall ballpark is 50-100 cm for favored central Chile, Las Leñas, and Chillán terrain, 40-80 cm around Corralco, 20-50 cm around Catedral and Chapelco, and generally under 10 cm at Cerro Castor,” Snowbrains wrote earlier in the week.
Experts are pointing out this is our first look at the very strong El Niño, which just got started and is already intensifying, according to the most recent update from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. If the trend continues and this El Niño lives up to its forecasts, forecasters believe this El Niño “is likely to rank among the largest in recorded history.”
“There is an 81 percent chance of a very strong El Niño during October-December,” forecasters wrote. “That would rank among the largest El Niño events in the historical record going back to 1950. Even the strongest El Niño events do not lead to the typical impact everywhere, but stronger events can more significantly tilt the odds in favor of expected outcomes.”
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