Average snowfall predicted for mountains

Crystal balls are hard to read, especially when it comes to weather. But early forecasts bring average news this year for Northwest ski resorts.

Kevin McCarthy, general manager of White Pass, says information from federal meteorologists call for average temperatures and precipitation at Washington ski areas.

He called it "a pretty normal year, not extreme on either side."

The area averages between 350 and 400 inches of snow per year.

McCarthy and managers from Washington resorts last week heard reports from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Meteorologists told them they are calling for a winter that is neither El Niño nor La Niña, opposite patterns of weather in the West created by currents and thunderstorms in the equatorial Pacific Ocean.

El Niño usually means warm and dry weather while La Niña means cold and wet.

"We like La Niñas," McCarthy said.

Last year was considered a strong La Niña that dumped 600 to 700 inches of snow to White Pass, McCarthy said. But it started slow. The resort opened the first weekend in December, but closed because of rain. On Dec. 15, snow started falling and hardly let up all winter.

White Pass usually tries to open before Thanksgiving.

The winter of 2004-2005 was an El Niño. The resort opened only 22 days that season.

However, White Pass has experienced good and bad snow years during both phenomena.

McCarthy said the meteorologists' forecasts have been accurate the past few years, but "they were pretty guarded this time."