El Niño will affect Powell River and coastal BC’s weather this winter, according to AccuWeather senior meteorologist Brett Anderson.
“El Niño typically is one of, if not the strongest, signal for a wintertime seasonal forecast, assuming it gets to moderate strength,” said Anderson. “If it ends up weaker then other signals can have greater, possibly opposite impacts.”
Based on his assumption, for skiers, Anderson said he expects less snow than usual for the coastal range ski resorts.
“I expect fewer storms than usual this winter as the main storm track will be more directed into the northern half of BC and southeast Alaska, which likely means slightly below normal rain and snow along the coast in the Powell River area,” said Anderson.
More Pacific air than usual will be swept inland, leading to slightly above normal temperatures, and water temperatures off southwest BC will end up slightly above normal for the winter, he added.
“If the waters off BC end up much above normal this could lead to an even warmer outlook along the coast this winter,” said Anderson, “with potential impacts on marine life due to the warmer waters.”
