Snowpack is below average

SANDPOINT — Snowpack levels are below average throughout the state, the Natural Resource Conservation Service reports.

“We’ve been in an extended dry spell since around Thanksgiving Day,” said Ron Abramovich, an Idaho NRCS water supply specialist. “The stagnant weather gave us blue skies during the day and clear skies at night for nearly 30 days.”

Storms the last week of December pushed out the static weather pattern and raised monthly precipitation measurements across the state, but it was not enough to bring snowpacks to average levels.

Snowpacks in the Panhandle are the most abundant, although they are just 75-90 percent of average for this time of year. Southern and central Idaho snowpacks range from 35-65 percent of average.

“Long-term climate forecasts still predict La Niña conditions will bring above-average precipitation to the Pacific Northwest for the next several months,” said Abramovich. “We need La Niña and 12 weeks of winter to salvage the year.”

Even if snowpacks remain below average this winter, there is excellent carryover water storage from last year for irrigation, power generation and other uses that relay on the snowpack for water resources, according to NRCS.

• Further information: www.id.nrcs.usda.gov/snow