Idaho Snowpack Report - Feb 2018
Sean Visintainer - 02/16/18
North Idaho is looking good
The white powder is stacking up nicely across the border in North Idaho. Winter snowpack is looking like we will be just slightly above average for our streams like the NF Coeur d'Alene, St. Joe River, and Kelly Creek drainage. All of this is a good thing as the CDA and Joe feed our beloved Spokane River.
Lately the cooler nights are slowing down the low elevation snow melt which help keep that snowpack around a bit longer. That's always the big question... when is runoff going to happen? Well anymore it happens a lot early than in the past, I'd say a full month earlier. Traditionally we would see some bumps in flows in late Feb and March, but it wasn't until late April that things really let loose with spring high water snowmelt. Maybe this year will be similar to the good ol'days?
Snow Water Equivalent - 2018 vs 2017
| Basin | Snow Water Equivalent 2018 - Updated 2/26 |
Snow Water Equivalent 2017 |
|---|---|---|
| NF Coeur d'Alene | 113 % |
81 % |
| St. Joe | 123 % |
90 % |
| Spokane | 114 % |
86 % |
| Clearwater | 127 % |
94 % |
| Lower Clark Fork | 125 % | 93 % |
| Upper Clark Fork | 160 % | 92 % |
Here is what we are looking at currently for Idaho snowpack:
