It was a La Niña year when Mount Baker broke the world record for snowfall. Here's what our local guy has to say about it. Long story short, buy your passes if you're in the PNW.
2015-16 Recap and Big Powder Potential for 2016-17
Next Season: La Nina and the promise of fabulous NW Snowfall - go deep and go big
There is great snowfall potential for the Pacific NW (WA, BC OR ID and MT) for next year. If a La Nina develops, as most of the models are predicting, there will be many awesome ski days ahead for next season. Already, the Climate Prediction Center is incorporating La Nina impacts into their forecast for next season. A La Nina Watch has been issued and it means mountains of snow are possible for the NW.
Many of the computer outlooks are pointing to a strong La Nina at this time, for next winter. In my opinion, a strong La Nina has the highest confidence of any long-range forecast for reliable and deep snow in the NW. It's almost bullet proof, but the reality is - there are no guarantees. La Nina also favors low snow levels too - quality and quantity!
This is only seasonal forecast I would bet on and I am all in. I already have passes for next year and planned time off. I am going part time at work and renting a snow cave from Sasquatch for the winter. All so I can be close to the powder. My life is finally coming together.
The most memorable La Nina for the NW was the record snow season of 1998-99. Mt Baker received the world record snowfall in 1998-99 with an incredible 1140" inches. That snowfall was driven by a strong La Nina pattern in the tropical Pacific. Next year won't be an exact repeat, but you should be ready when it really starts dumping. There is no way to tell how it will play out on a monthly basis. The 1998-99 season had a mediocre start, but the Cascades snow machine really got cranking by February 1999, with 6-12" of new almost everyday. Baker had to close down for a couple of days to dig out chairlifts from the unending snowfall.
If anything close to that happens - we'll be livin' the dream.
Have a great summer. See ya in the fall
Larry Schick
Meteorologist
The Grand Poobah of Powder