Idaho stream flows peak after record snowpack melt

BOISE – Stream flows are peaking early after a record amount of Idaho’s snowpack melted in April.

Hydrologist Phil Morrisey said warm temperatures and dry weather are responsible for melting the snowpack, the Capital Press reported.

“Normally there’s a small amount of decline because (April) is when the snowpack starts to melt,” said Morrisey of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service. “This year we saw more (April) decline in the snowpack than in any of the other years we’ve looked at it.”

Southwestern Idaho’s Treasure Valley area north to the panhandle saw the greatest snowpack decline.

Morrisey said most of the state’s stream flow forecast fell to about 70 to 90 percent of average while the snowpack is about 55 to 85 percent of normal.

Big Wood Canal Co. general manager Lynn Harmon said the early melt helped his water outlook.

“Normal peak flow is about June 4,” Harmon said. “We seem to be experiencing that at this point in time.”

While parts of the state grappled with dry weather, precipitation in areas of southern Idaho reached more than 100 percent of normal.