Weather Service: Snowpack 80 percent of normal

Eastern Idaho started the year with a higher-than-normal snowpack, but now the National Weather Service says the snowpack is 80 percent of normal.

The lack of snow has prompted the city-managed East Fork Mink Creek Nordic Center to close for the season.

“There’s nothing left to even attempt to ski on,” said Lance Clark, who manages the center. “We’re going to bring down the grooming equipment. We’re going to bring down the rental equipment.”

It’s just the latest casualty of an unusually warm winter.

“We haven’t received any snow and we’ve had above-normal temperatures,” said Corey Loveland, a hydrologist for the National Weather Service in Pocatello.

Loveland said the long-term forecast calls for more unseasonably warm weather.

But not everyone’s feeling the sting.

At Pebble Creek Ski Area, there’s still 44 inches of snow in the higher elevations.

“We got an inch new today,” said Pebble Creek manager Mary Reichman.

That’s because Pebble Creek sits right at the snow line: around 6,600 feet.

“We are higher than most of the other areas, so we’re just looking forward to keeping going all the way through the end of March,” said Reichman.

Loveland said there’s still hope snow could reach the level elevations before winter’s end.

“All we need is a couple good snowstorms and we can get to near-normal snowpack conditions,” said Loveland.