NRCS: There’s still a chance for healthy snowpack

It’s been a light winter throughout the state of Idaho, but snow surveyors are hoping a late winter storm will create a healthier snowpack.

“We started out pretty good, percentage wise, at over 100 percent. Since then we’ve gone down hill,” said soil conservation technician Cleve Bagley.

Bagley said Idaho’s average SNOTEL snow water equivalent is only operating at 85 percent of its normal capacity.

“We’ve had about zero precipitation in February,” he said.

Natural Resource Conservation Service reports show a significant decrease in snow depth from 44 inches (February 2014) to 35 inches (February 2015). However the average snow water equivalent increased from 9 inches to almost 12 inches, which is why surveyors say there is still a chance for a good snowpack and runoff as the season ends.

“(Later in the season) the moisture content in the snow is a lot more than some of our drier snow during January and earlier months because the closer we get to spring the more water we have in the snow,” said Bagley. “A good storm would make a big difference, just one big wet one. We usually get those the first part of March.”

For a full NRCS report of the water year-to-date precipitation percentage go to the NRSC website or copy this link to your browser: http://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/ftpref/data/water/wcs/gis/maps/id_wytdprecpctnormal_update.pdf