15Feb 2023 by Nicole Rinaldi

Experts hopeful snowpack helps buck Idaho’s drought conditions

Idaho News
By Carolyn Komatsoulis; Idaho Press Mores Creek and the Robie Creek region is seen from the road above the canyon east of Boise on Feb. 9, 2022. The last two years have seen drier-than-normal springs. Jake King/Idaho Press Love was in the air on Tuesday, and so was snow, at least in Boise and the Treasure Valley overnight. It’s likely that the state could buck the trend of drier consecutive La Niña winters, something that hasn’t happened since the 1950s in the part of Idaho south of the Salmon River. But that doesn’t mean it’s guaranteed. “We’re off to a nice snowy day today and we should have gotten some decent precip up in the mountains last night,” said David Hoekema, Idaho Department of Water Resources hydrologist. “We’re likely to…
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19Jan 2023 by Nicole Rinaldi

Snake headwater reservoirs benefit less from recent storms

Idaho News
By Brad Carlson; Capital Press Palisades Reservoir on the Upper Snake River in eastern Idaho. Comstock Upper Snake River managers are watching the basin’s important east side, where headwater areas so far have seen comparatively less benefit from recent Pacific storms. Snowpack to date for the Oct. 1 water year is looking good, but total precipitation in the east is trailing the other smaller sub-basins, said Brian Stevens, area water operations manager for the U.S.Bureau of Reclamation’s Upper Snake Field Office in Heyburn, Idaho. “The eastern side of the Upper Snake basin is by far the largest contributor to runoff volumes in the system, and we still need above-average precipitation for the rest of the winter and spring — into late June — to have potential to fill the system,”…
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23Nov 2022 by Nicole Rinaldi

Cold temps promising for snowpack, but Idaho’s drought outlook for 2023 unclear

Idaho News
By Erin Banks Rusby; Idaho Press Snowpack at Bogus Basin in Boise, Idaho. The normal high temperature for Boise on Nov. 9 is 52 degrees. But this year on that day, the high was just in the 30s. Even in mid-November, Boise’s normal highs are in the 40s, said Troy Lindquist, a senior hydrologist with the National Weather Service. That said, the Treasure Valley’s recent cold weather in tandem with the snow that fell is good news for Idaho’s water supply, he said. “That’s nearly 20 degrees below normal, for Boise, so it’s definitely going to be chilly,” Lindquist said during a meeting earlier this month about the outlook for Idaho’s water supply over the next year. “The nice thing about this is we’ve got a fast start to our…
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28Feb 2022 by Nicole Rinaldi

Drought, low snowpack may foretell Idaho’s future

Idaho News
Idaho Statesman Bogus Basin Mountain Recreation Area, Boise, ID. Much of Southern Idaho, cut through in scythe like fashion by the Snake River Plain, relies on the frozen water stored in the state’s mountains to fill its rivers. When winter ends and summer’s broiling heat arrives, it is these snowy peaks that serve as the state’s reservoir, filling the Salmon, Snake, Big Lost, Boise and other tributaries with cold, clear water. But as the amount of snowfall declines, with scientists citing the effects of climate change as a key contributor, major problems arise for the state’s ecosystems, residents and agriculture industry. And that erosion is already underway. By the turn of the century, Idaho could see reductions of 35%-65% of its snowpack, according to a study published in Nature Reviews…
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