The National Weather Service recently published historical data related to how El Niño periods tend to impact winter weather in Denver, providing insight into what may lie ahead in upcoming months.

With El Niño conditions now in place and expected to last into 2024, many Coloradans are anticipating plenty of snowfall.

As El Niño relates specifically to Denver, past El Niño periods have resulted in above-average snowfall in the Mile High City seven of eight times since 1957.

The average seasonal snowfall in Denver is 56.9 inches, but this jumps to 70.8 inches when El Niño is active. The highest amount of snowfall that occurred during an El Niño year in Denver was 94.9 inches during the 1972 to 1973 winter season.

The National Weather Service also noted that El Niño “can” produce stronger, slower moving storms that typically occur during spring months, though the forecasting service also noted that these storms can occur earlier and that the occurrence of this type of wintery storm isn’t guaranteed.

So there you have it – Denverites should probably expect snowfall that’s above-average this winter and early spring, but as is the norm for any weather forecast, that prediction is subject to change.

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