02/01/08 January was a good month for snow

To say that January was a good month for snow in Idaho is an understatement. Storms that constantly rolled across the state have helped build a healthy snowpack so far this winter. MORRISSEY  "I see over in the Sun Valley Arco area according to our Sno-Tel they've received almost double the normal January precipitation." Phil Morrissey of the NRCS Snow Survey team says January readings of 150 to 180 percent of normal snowpack were pretty common across the state. Now for the bad news. Most of the basins bordering Nevada are still below normal despite a good January. MORRISSEY "Salmon Falls and Bruneau areas, Oakley they're still just barely at 90 percent of normal so they've gotten some of these storms so that breaking point for the storm patterns seems to be the Sun Valley Boise area and north doing very well." And the snow is so deep in the Weiser basin there's a potential problem developing there. MORRISSEY "That's the highest area in the state right now. That basin is very subject to flooding. If we get a good warm-up in February with rain or something there could be some early runoff in the Weiser." There are still two months left to add to the mountain snowpack. Today's Idaho Ag News Bill Scott