America's National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have released a combined outlook for the 2024-2025 winter season, which can be used to help set some expectations for winter sport enthusiasts headed to Colorado.
The weather tends to be dominated by the El Niño / La Niña cycle from the Pacific with this winter expected to see a return of La Niña (a 79% chance) after El Niño last winter.
What does that mean? Well you never can predict the weather with certainty, especially many months ahead but the agencies' forecast is, broadly, that the Rockies will get lower-than-normal precipitation, with the southern Rockies seeing above-normal temperatures.
The forecast is more positive for the West Coast, particularly the Pacific Northwest including Oregon, Washington and BC where above-normal precipitation is expected in this region for the first half of winter and colder than average temperatures also expected for much of the season. Hopefully that equals abundant snowfall!