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El Niño Winter Snow Outlookby plusbeauxjours

Colorado Springs: snow this winter? El Niño 2026-27

Not a forecastNOAA outlook issued Sep 17, 2026. Next update Oct 15, 2026.

Colorado Springs, CO

Snow in past strong El Niño winters

Winters with above-normal snow

7 of 9

In 7 of 9 strong El Niño winters, Colorado Springs got above-normal snow (median 156% of normal).

Normal: 32.5 in per season (NOAA 1991–2020 normal).

Seasonal snowfall at Colorado Springs, CO in strong El Niño winters
Winter% of normal
1957-5851.1 inPeak ONI 1.69 / RONI 1.89157%
1965-6630.3 inPeak ONI 1.82 / RONI 1.9993%
1972-7376.0 inPeak ONI 1.84 / RONI 1.97234%
1982-83Big 336.3 inPeak ONI 2.14 / RONI 2.40112%
1991-9242.7 inPeak ONI 1.54 / RONI 2.12131%
1997-98Big 356.8 inPeak ONI 2.37 / RONI 2.28175%
2009-1031.8 inPeak ONI 1.50 / RONI 1.5098%
2015-16Big 350.7 inPeak ONI 2.59 / RONI 2.25156%
2023-2450.6 inPeak ONI 1.99 / RONI 1.42156%

Snowfall from NOAA station record Colorado Springs Area (ThreadEx; current station COLORADO SPRINGS MUNICIPAL AP) (COSthr, 6,182 ft).

Past strong El Niño winters are a guide, not a forecast. Every El Niño is different: this one comes with a negative PDO, which NOAA says may dampen typical impacts.

NOAA Dec–Feb outlook

Official
Temperature
Equal chances
Precipitation
33–39% chance Above normal

Issued Sep 17, 2026 by NOAA's Climate Prediction Center. Next update Oct 15, 2026.

El Niño now

NOAA status
El Niño Advisory
RONI, JAS 2026
+1.69 °C
Chance of very strong (≥ +2.0 °C) in Dec–Feb
75%

NOAA status: El Niño Advisory. El Niño is strengthening, with a greater than 90% chance of a very strong event during the Northern Hemisphere fall and winter 2026-27. (NOAA CPC, Sep 10, 2026.)

Colorado Springs in short

NOAA's Dec–Feb 2026-27 outlook for Colorado Springs: temperature equal chances; precipitation 33–39% chance Above normal.

Among the 9 strong El Niño winters with complete records, the snowiest here was 1972-73 (76.0 in, 234% of normal) and the least snowy was 1965-66 (30.3 in, 93% of normal).

In the “Big Three” El Niño winters it recorded 1982-83 (36.3 in, 112% of normal), 1997-98 (56.8 in, 175% of normal), 2015-16 (50.7 in, 156% of normal).

Not a forecast

This is not a weather forecast. Seasonal outlooks are probabilities from NOAA's Climate Prediction Center; past El Niño winters show what happened, not what will happen. Snowfall is from NOAA station records (ACIS) and may contain gaps or station changes. For forecasts and warnings, use weather.gov. Not affiliated with NOAA/NWS.

About this station

  • Station: Colorado Springs Area (ThreadEx; current station COLORADO SPRINGS MUNICIPAL AP), ACIS id COSthr, GHCN USW00093037.
  • Matched by station name.

How we pick stations and count winters: method & sources. Last updated .