Weather
The season’s first two June storms will unload several feet of cold smoke just as lifts start spinning—Corralco opens June 13, Cerro Catedral follows June 14, and the Santiago trio lights up between June 20 and 23—serving up mid-storm powder for South America’s earliest turns.
Wednesday night–Friday: the primer pulse arrives just in time for Corralco’s opening day. A quick-moving northwesterly front splashes the Bio-Bio volcanoes Wednesday night, then ripples north into the Santiago resorts by dawn Thursday. Most central-Andes hills notch 7″-17″ out of this wave, but Nevados de Chillán steals the show with 23″-32″ of champagne—perfect for first-chair laps when Corralco celebrates its June 13 season start. SLRs sit in the 12-17:1 range (Nevados begins a touch denser near 10:1), snow levels hover 3,700–5,200 feet, and gusts briefly touch 60 mph over the volcanoes before easing.
Saturday–Sunday: a stalled trough turns the tap wide open just in time for Cerro Catedral’s June 14 debut. Subtropical moisture couples with a cold core aloft, driving steady snowfall that drops 10″-20″ every night across the Bio-Bio and Neuquén ranges while moderate 14-16:1 ratios keep quality blower-dry. The plume pushes north Sunday, burying Las Leñas and the Santiago basin while Cerro Catedral enjoys opening-weekend face shots. Snow levels wobble 4,000-6,000 feet—well below every Chilean base—so lower lifts should ride dry; winds gust into the 30s but stay manageable for most lift operations.
Monday–Tuesday: final pulses cement a deep base ahead of the central-Chile openings. Successive vortices through Tuesday night tack on another 24″-45″ around Santiago and 42″-77″ at Nevados, lifting multi-day tallies to five-plus feet in the southern sector. That fresh canvas sets La Parva and Valle Nevado up for powder-day openings on June 20, Portillo on June 21, and El Colorado on June 23, with clearing skies expected just in time for patrol work and bluebird first turns.
Resort-by-Resort Snowfall Totals
- Nevados de Chillán – 65″-109″ total (23″-32″ Wed night (06/11)–Fri night (06/13) + 42″-77″ Sat (06/14)–Tue night (06/17))
- Valle Nevado – 40″-67″ total (16″-23″ Wed night (06/11)–Fri night (06/13) + 24″-44″ Sat (06/14)–Tue night (06/17))
- El Colorado – 39″-65″ total (16″-22″ Wed night (06/11)–Fri night (06/13) + 23″-43″ Sat (06/14)–Tue night (06/17))
- Las Leñas – 38″-65″ total (7″-10″ Wed night (06/11)–Fri night (06/13) + 31″-55″ Sat (06/14)–Tue night (06/17))
- Corralco – 36″-64″ total (9″-13″ Wed night (06/11)–Fri night (06/13) + 28″-51″ Sat (06/14)–Wed (06/18))
- La Parva – 35″-59″ total (14″-20″ Wed night (06/11)–Fri night (06/13) + 21″-39″ Sat (06/14)–Tue night (06/17))
- Portillo – 35″-59″ total (12″-17″ Wed night (06/11)–Fri night (06/13) + 23″-42″ Sat (06/14)–Tue night (06/17))
- Chapelco – 11″-20″ Thu (06/12)–Wed (06/18)
- Cerro Catedral Alta Patagonia – 10″-17″ Thu (06/12)–Tue (06/17)
