2-15 IAN Feb Snow

 TOO EARLY TO TELL IF DRY JANUARY WILL AFFECT SUMMER WATER SUPPLY

I got a press release from Ron Abramovich,  you all know to be a Natural Resources Conservation Service Water Supply Specialist and it said that January precipitation was below normal across most of Idaho according to the latest water supply outlook report. The report shows the snowpack decreased by up to 30 percentage points from a month ago. I called Ron

up:  “If February is dry, the snowpack and streamflow percentages will decrease like they did in January. That could affect the water supply this summer. Most basins started the season with good soil moisture and snowpack conditions. We’ve learned from the past that we can usually get by with one month of below normal precipitation, especially after a good start like this year. When we get two dry months in a row, negative impacts on the water supply start to occur.”

Currently, the snowpack ranges from a low of 75% to 128% of normal. Low elevation snowpacks that were below normal last month are still well below normal while higher elevation snow is in better shape and maintaining higher percentages.