Snowpack in February

 Idaho’s snowpacks range from fair to poor according to snow survey data collected last week by the Natural Resources Conservation Service. The poor snowpacks across the state can be attributed to November, December and January’s minimal precipitation. 

Ron Abramovich, Water Supply specialist for NRCS told me that “The weather pattern this year is typical during El Niño years with good snow levels in the Southwest US and below normal levels in the Pacific Northwest.”

The best snowpacks are in the Owyhee basin at 95% of average and the lowest in the Coeur d'Alene, St. Joe, and Palouse basins at 50-55% of average. The snow in the Upper Snake River basin in eastern Idaho is 60% of average, the fifth lowest in fifty years. Based on historic data, when the snowpack is this low in February, it does not recover to even near normal levels by April 1.

 Water users can expect below normal runoff across all of Idaho. Current streamflow forecasts range from 45-80% of average and did not change much from volumes predicted in January because of the below normal January precipitation.

 “The good news is that Ron also told me that the reservoir storage is above average across most of the state and that will help buffer impacts of the below normal streamflows,”. “Water managers will monitor snow levels, inflows and spring weather closely when the melt season starts to ensure reservoirs fill as much as possible.”