Snowpack improves, but not enough

COEUR d’ALENE — Snowpack across the Panhandle is improving, but remains “well below normal,” according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service Idaho Water Supply Outlook Report dated March 1.

“The lack of snow in the Panhandle and Clearwater basins is very concerning,” the report said.

Despite a big storm to end February, snowpack in the Panhandle’s mountains ranges from 65-70% of normal.

“Even if well above normal snow accumulation occurs during the remainder of winter, the Coeur d’Alene-St. Joe and Pend Oreille-Kootenai basins will end their winter with well below normal snowpacks,” the report said.

It said the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s 30-day outlook “does not favor below normal precipitation or above normal temperatures which offers a glimmer of hope that snow conditions will continue to improve during the last leg of the snow accumulation season.”

Precipitation in February in the Panhandle basins was 110-140% of normal, the report said, “which brought much-needed water to these basins.”

Water Year 2024 continues to be below normal. March 1 total water year precipitation ranges from 75-90% of normal.

Reservoir storage in the Panhandle lakes March 1: Coeur d’Alene was 124% of normal (53% full), Pend Oreille was 83% of normal (36% full), and Priest Lake was 164% of normal (77% full). 

Streamflow forecasts for April through July are 65-90% of normal.

“Increases in the snowpack, in combination with above normal reservoir storage, improved water supply conditions across much of Idaho,” the report said. “Low snowpack conditions in central and northern Idaho likely will lead to low streamflow conditions this summer unless late winter and spring precipitation significantly improve conditions.”