How accurate are our snow forecasts?

Every night we freeze that day's 7-day forecast for every resort we track. The next morning we collect what actually fell and score yesterday's predictions at every lead time — every resort, every day, automatically. No cherry-picked storms, no quiet deletions. This page is the result.

Currently scoring 3,273 resorts over a trailing 60-day window, last updated Aug 18, 2026 UTC.

Error by lead time

Average absolute error per forecast day, across resorts that saw snow in the window. Bias is signed: positive means we over-forecast, negative means we under-forecast.

Forecast Resorts Avg. Error Avg. Bias
Same day 41 0.6in +0.2in
1 day ahead 48 0.6in -0.1in
2 days ahead 50 0.6in -0.1in
3 days ahead 42 0.9in -0.0in
4 days ahead 39 1.4in +0.2in
5 days ahead 38 1.1in +0.1in
6 days ahead 37 1.0in -0.1in

By resort

Short-range (1–3 days ahead) forecast error at the snowiest resorts in the window. Resorts appear once they have at least 10 scored days including real snowfall — a dry spell scores a perfect 0.0 that says nothing.

Resort Scored Days Avg. Error Overall
Centro de Ski Chapa Verde Del Libertador B Ohiggins, Chile 15 2.3in ran 9% low
Valle Hermoso Del Bio-Bio, Chile 15 1.6in ran 23% low
Las Leñas Mendoza, Argentina 15 2.5in ran 20% low
Antuco Del Bio-Bio, Chile 15 1.2in ran 30% low
Corralco De La Araucania, Chile 15 1.7in ran 48% low
Caviahue Neuquen, Argentina 15 1.0in ran 29% low
Los Penitentes Mendoza, Argentina 15 0.8in within 5% overall
Las Araucarias De La Araucania, Chile 15 1.0in ran 33% low
Valle Nevado Metropolitana, Chile 15 1.1in ran 34% high
La Parva Metropolitana, Chile 15 1.1in ran 34% high
El Colorado Metropolitana, Chile 15 1.1in ran 34% high
Los Puquios Mendoza, Argentina 15 0.7in within 5% overall
Farellones Metropolitana, Chile 15 0.9in ran 35% high
Chapelco Ski Resort Neuquen, Argentina 15 0.8in ran 31% low
Lagunillas Metropolitana, Chile 15 0.9in ran 34% high
Cerro Perito Moreno Rio Negro, Argentina 15 0.5in ran 18% low
Parque de Nieve Batea Mahuida Neuquen, Argentina 15 0.8in ran 34% low
Cerro Bayo Neuquen, Argentina 15 0.7in ran 36% low
Portillo De Valparaiso, Chile 15 0.9in ran 38% high
Cerro Catedral Rio Negro, Argentina 15 0.5in ran 21% low
Complejo Turístico Teleférico Cerro Otto Rio Negro, Argentina 15 0.5in ran 21% low
Piedras Blancas Rio Negro, Argentina 15 0.5in ran 22% low
Centro Ski Pucón De La Araucania, Chile 15 0.7in ran 32% low
La Hoya Chubut, Argentina 15 0.5in ran 21% low
Estación Esquí Antillanca De Los Lagos, Chile 15 0.5in ran 20% low

Why we stop at 7 days

Some sites publish 14- or 15-day snow forecasts. We don't, because forecast error grows with lead time — you can watch it happen in our own table above. Beyond a week, a snowfall total is closer to a coin flip than a forecast, and publishing one would just be marketing dressed as meteorology. Seven days is where a forecast is still worth planning around.

How the scoring works

At the first forecast refresh after 00:00 UTC each day we snapshot the predicted snowfall for each of the next 7 days at every resort. Each night we collect measured snowfall at summit elevation and compute, per resort and per lead day, the average absolute error (how far off we were, regardless of direction) and the bias (whether we run high or low) over the trailing 60 days. Forecasts and measurements both come from the same elevation point, so the comparison is apples to apples.

See what the forecast says for your mountain:

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