For years, skiers have tuned in to long-range weather outlooks to determine whether an El Niño or La Niña might bring a bountiful powder season. Along with shaping winter precipitation patterns, recent research suggests that shifts in sea surface temperatures can also be tied to the frequency and intensity of forest fires. For forests like Summit County’s subalpine lodgepole pines, drought conditions induced by La Niña, and even temperature shifts in the Atlantic Ocean, could be a bigger factor for snow and drought than previously thought. After studying the historic recurrence of fire in Rocky Mountain National Park and comparing that data with climate records, Forest Service scientists concluded in a recent study that fire occurred more frequently than expected during La Niña conditions.

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