2021-22 Ski Season Summary

The following major weather patterns affected the 2021-22 ski season.
October: A strong West Coast atmospheric river opened Mammoth and Palisades (formerly Squaw) Oct. 29 but only Mammoth remained open into November.
November to early December: Storms tracked through the Northwest, snowing in the Whistler alpine but mostly raining lower down. These storms brought substantial snow to interior Canada, but US regions had less than half normal snowfall.
Mid to Late December: This period was continuously stormy in California, with nearly 3x normal snowfall. The Northwest, Utah and Southwest had twice normal snowfall with interior northern regions above average and only Front Range Colorado close to average.
Early January: Storms hit the Northwest with lots of snow the first week but mostly rain the second week. Interior northern regions got less snow but also less rain. The first week storms brushed northern Utah and Colorado while regions farther south were dry.
Mid-January to mid-February: This was the most severe midwinter drought on record for 5 weeks in most regions: zero snow in California and less than a foot in Utah and northern US areas away from the Canadian border. Colorado and Southwest were about half normal except for an isolated storm at Wolf Creek and in New Mexico. Interior Canada had the most snow but was still below average.
Second half of February: A more normal snowfall pattern emerged during the second half of February, with the heaviest snowfalls being in Washington State and the Southwest.
First half of March: First half of March snowfall was also close to normal with the most in Utah and the Southwest.
Second half of March: The second half of March was warmer and drier than normal, with only Colorado averaging over a foot of new snow. Other regions developed majority spring conditions.
Early to mid-April: This period was continuously stormy in the Northwest with over twice normal snowfall. The first week was mostly dry elsewhere but there was more widespread snowfall over the next two weeks except in the Southwest.
Late April to May: Weather was slightly cooler and wetter than average in northern and central regions of the West.

2021-22 was overall distinctly below average, 86% of normal, due to that extreme midwinter drought. However December was the big snowfall month, allowing record U.S. skier visits along with the emergence from COVID restrictions. 2021-22 was a moderate La Nina season, and snowfall was more favorable in northern regions, notably in November, early January and most of April. See 2021-22 Ski Season Analysis.

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