Strong El Niño winters: the Southwest usually wins, the Northwest usually loses

April 1 snowpack as a percent of the 1991–2020 median, in every strong El Niño winter since 1972 with data. Each dot is one winter; the black tick is the median. Regions are sorted wettest to driest.

1997-982015-16Other strong winters (1972-73, 1982-83, 1991-92, 2009-10)2023-24 (moderate)Median
Data: USDA NRCS SNOTEL and snow courses (region = median of its nearby stations); strong = peak NOAA RONI ≥ 1.5. White Mountains uses peak snowpack (its April 1 median is near zero).DisasterAWARE
Show the data as a table
Region1972-731982-831991-921997-982009-102015-162023-24 (moderate)Median of strong wintersStrong winters with data
Arizona Snowbowl247.0195.0167.0148.0166.058.0112.01666
Taos, NM262.0172.0156.0112.0156.044.0110.01566
White Mountains, AZ227.0135.0148.0213.068.089.01485
South Lake Tahoe147.0242.055.0161.093.0128.0112.01386
Mammoth, CA160.0239.064.0169.0114.088.0114.01376
North Lake Tahoe140.0216.062.0144.094.0118.0102.01296
Wolf Creek & San Juans, CO141.0143.0111.0103.0110.090.093.01106
Cottonwood Canyons, UT136.0161.063.0118.084.098.0129.01086
Mt Hood, OR110.042.0106.080.098.084.0985
Park City & Deer Valley, UT75.0124.094.0101.0130.0984
Summit County & Vail, CO91.0119.097.096.080.0109.0119.0966
Jackson Hole & Tetons, WY97.0127.066.0104.064.095.098.0966
Sun Valley, ID95.0168.070.096.081.0119.092.0966
Big Sky, MT75.0123.082.096.076.0102.075.0896
Crystal & Paradise, WA73.092.076.0105.078.0844
Mt Baker, WA79.077.091.061.0793
Stevens Pass, WA66.059.098.076.087.082.0765