This South America snow forecast starts with a dense near-term storm, then shifts toward a larger but less certain mid-July pattern. The best committed totals through Saturday are in the central Andes, where Portillo, Valle Nevado, and Las Leñas are favored for about 20-30 cm on the upper end, with smaller amounts for La Parva, El Colorado, Catedral, and Chapelco. Lift-served access is uneven: Portillo, Catedral, La Parva, Cerro Castor, Valle Nevado, Corralco, and El Colorado are operating with limited terrain, Las Leñas is scheduled for a partial ski opening Saturday, Chapelco is pedestrian-only, and Nevados de Chillán has ski terrain suspended for now.
The active Thursday-to-Saturday storm is the clearest part of the forecast. The models converge on snow from Thursday afternoon through Friday night, tapering early Saturday, but they still diverge on intensity from resort to resort. Snow levels in the central and northern Andes run near 2,400-3,000 meters, so the lower mountain snow will be dense or wet at times while the upper mountain stacks up better. SLRs mostly run 3-8 there, which is heavy base-building snow rather than blower powder. Around Catedral and Chapelco, totals are smaller, but snow levels closer to 1,000-1,300 meters and SLRs near 9-11 support more moderate snow quality.
Sunday looks like a relative break before storm chances reload from Monday night through Thursday. The individual models agree that the pattern turns more active again across the southern and central Andes, but they diverge on where the strongest band sets up and how much snow reaches the Santiago-area resorts. A reasonable, lower-confidence read is for favored midweek areas to have potential for 30-100 cm, especially around Nevados de Chillán, Corralco, and parts of the central Andes if the wetter solutions verify. Snow levels look more variable, generally 1,200-2,600 meters where it is snowing, with dense to moderate snow and stronger exposed-ridge winds becoming more relevant.
Friday through Sunday carries the biggest upside, but also the widest spread. The broader signal favors a stronger storm for the central Andes and the Portillo-to-Valle Nevado corridor, while Patagonia looks more modest. The most realistic conservative takeaway is potential for roughly 100-200 cm in the favored central high terrain if the main late-week storm lines up, with roughly 10-30 cm for Catedral, Chapelco, and Cerro Castor. Timing and placement are still diverging, so treat that as a watch item rather than a firm total. Snow may start dense with higher snow levels, then improve as colder air arrives later in the storm.
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South America Snow Forecast Resort Totals (Thu Jul 09 – Sat Jul 11)
- Portillo – 21-28 cm
- Valle Nevado – 17-23 cm
- Las Leñas – 17-22 cm
- Chapelco – 11-15 cm
- El Colorado – 8-11 cm
- Cerro Catedral – 7-10 cm
- La Parva – 5-7 cm
- Corralco – 0 cm
- Nevados de Chillán – 0 cm
- Cerro Castor – 0 cm