Snowpack causes concerns about possible spring flooding issues

(KIFI/KIDK) Pocatello and the surrounding area has seen a lot of snow this year, a little more than normal.

“Pocatello itself, we are on track, if it were to stop snowing now we would end up the 6th snowiest ever,” commented Travis Wyatt, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service. “But we are easily on track to be the third snowiest, particularly the areas south of us, they are well above normal.”

With all the snow, some people are wondering if that means there will be flooding issues come spring time.

“The concern comes if you have rapid warm up and also if you have rain on snow. We did see that the beginning of January in Burley, that had a lot of rain on snow and extended warm periods. And they saw a lot of low lying flooding,” Wyatt said.

Wyatt added that it is still too early to predict if we will have major flooding issues or not, because it all depends on how quickly it warms up outside.

A resident in Pocatello thinks the City of Pocatello should be doing more to prepare for possible flooding issues.

“The city needs to get some trucks over here and just dump all the snow in the park and everything so when it does melt off there is not as much and nobody cares if the park floods or not,” said KC Roberts, a resident of Pocatello.

While some are worried about their own homes, others are worried about bigger buildings like schools.

“My concern with flooding involves my school more than my home, because the school happens to lay in a flat area there close to the river in the floodplain,” said Pocatello Community Charter School Director, Michael Mendive.

While experts are still unsure if there will be flooding in Pocatello and the surrounding area, there are some precautions you can take.

Wyatt said to keep the snow away from the base of your house. And in low lying areas, make a ditch so when the snow melts, the water has someplace to go.