One region’s bust is another region’s powder year — and you can blame the jet stream.

Pacific Northwest resorts are already stacking up snow, while the East’s prospects look shakier. That comes down to where this winter’s jet stream is sending the storm track.

El Niño is splitting the jet into two bands this season: a subtropical jet strengthening and shifting south and east across the Pacific, and a polar jet weakening and pushing north.

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That split is steering storms toward the Pacific Northwest now, and the Rockies and Sierra as the season goes on.

West Coast

The stronger, farther-south subtropical jet is already paying off. Timberline Lodge, on Mount Hood, has picked up 18 inches in three days, with more resorts across Oregon, Washington and western Canada seeing fresh snow. Based on this pattern, snowfall out West is likely to run above average this season.

(MORE: Ski resorts across the PNW and western Canada score solid start to winter)

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East Coast

The East normally relies on its own polar jet for storms, but that jet is weakening and shifting north this winter, often merging with the stronger subtropical jet instead of holding its own track.

Storms may still roll through, but without enough cold air to reliably turn into snow. Based on this setup, snow totals in the East are likely to run below average — though not guaranteed, since El Niño only tilts the odds.

(MORE: Our El Niño coverage)

Check the latest forecast on The Weather Channel app before locking in a ski trip, and check out our winter outlook page for the full regional picture.

Faiza Mohammed is a meteorologist intern at weather.com. She studied geography and worked with the Weather Dawgs team at the University of Georgia. She also received her master's in Earth and Atmospheric Sciences from the Georgia Institute of Technology.