Idaho Snowpack Makes Big Improvement From January

After months of concern, it looks like irrigators in Idaho can breathe a small sigh of relief, after the snowpack made considerable improvements between January and February.

“We've had a lot of big storms come through the area and so we've seen the snowpack really improve, especially from the Salmon Basin through the south," said Erin Whorton with NRCS.  "So, western Idaho is really wet; the Weiser, Payette, and Boise basins. And then we've seen a lot of improvement in the Wood and Lost basins as well, so that's really encouraging.”

Whorton added snowfall numbers along the state’s southern border have been near normal, resulting in solid snowpack numbers east to the headwaters of the Snake River.  She noted the only are of concern right now is in northern Idaho, where the Clearwater, Coeur D’Alene, St. Joe and Pend Oreille basins all have snowpacks that are below normal for this time of year.  

Not only are the statewide snowpack numbers encouraging, but so are the reservoir numbers in eastern Idaho.  To start the water year, many of those reservoirs were depleted, thanks to several hot dry summers and very little recharge.  But Whorton said things are looking up.

“The reservoirs on the east side of the state are near normal, they're actually above average at this point, and they're refilling a faster than average rate, than what’s typical for this year. So, we are seeing improvements in reservoir storage on the eastern part of Idaho and Wyoming.”

Whorton said the expectation is for warmer weather across the state in the coming days.  However, she noted these elevated temperatures aren't expected to stick around long, and should not impact area snowpacks.

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