12/28/06 Looking for more snow

We didn't get the rain and snow in December like we got in November. That being said the NRCS reports that almost every basin in Idaho has had normal or above normal rainfall since October first. Ron Abromovich says the Panhandle and Clearwater basins have 135 and 132 percent normal precipitation over the past three months, the best in the state. ABROMOVICH "What else that precipitation has done is saturated, primed the soils so the soils won't soak up a whole lot next year when the snowpack does melt and runoff. That means more runoff should get in the rivers and the reservoirs." We didn't get above normal snowfall in December and Abromovich says most basins have below normal snowpack as we begin January. ABROMOVICH "The highest in the state remains the Oakley basin at 118 percent of average and the lowest is the Owyhee basin at 66 percent. The Bear River basin is not far behind at 79 percent of average along with the Big Lost and Little Wood basins at 75 percent. The upper Snake River above Palisades is 81 percent along with Henry's Fork and Teton basin in eastern Idaho." Boise, Payette, Weiser, Salmon, Clearwater and the Panhandle basins have snowpack levels between 90 and 99 percent. Abromovich says El Nino conditions usually kick in after the first of the year so we'll have to wait and see if the snow and rain falls over the next three months. Today's Idaho Ag News