An El Nino weather trend means less snowfall this year than in previous years in Montana, and you can see the effect with the Big Sky Ski Resort reporting less than two feet of snow on opening day.

We talked with the weather experts from the National Weather Service office in Missoula about the impact of El Nino on Western Montana.

Forecaster Corby Dickerson explained the El Nino effect will be felt. "In Montana, we will see less snow, about 80% of normal, and we'll also see warmer than normal conditions."

The National Weather Service website describes El Nino as being "characterized by unusually warm ocean temperatures in the Equatorial Pacific, as opposed to La Niña, which characterized by unusually cold ocean temperatures in the Equatorial Pacific. El Niño is an oscillation of the ocean-atmosphere system in the tropical Pacific having important consequences for weather around the globe.