People who say this winter’s snow is the deepest they can remember are probably remembering correctly. Ever since the National Weather Service began keeping records in the winter of 1937-38, the year after the Sun Valley Resort opened in December 1936, in only two winters has the January snowpack been deeper than it was this year.
According to the National Weather Service, maximum snowpack in January at the Ketchum Ranger Station was 53 inches. That was beaten only by a snowpack of 57 inches in January 1943 and by a whopping 85-inch snowpack in January 1952. (By Thursday, the snowpack had been compressed to 47 inches).
Throughout the Big Wood Basin, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service, snow-water equivalent in the snowpack as of Thursday was 163 percent of normal.
NRCS historic snow data include snowpack water content on the first day of each month of each year since the winter of 1981-82. The data indicate that as of Feb. 1 of each year, the biggest snowpack was in 1997, with the Feb. 1, 2006, snowpack ranking second and this year’s ranking third. As of Feb. 1, 2017, the average snowpack at “snotel” sites throughout the Big Wood Basin was 135 percent of normal.
“I suspect the March value will be up there with the 1997 value,” NRCS hydrologist Dan Tappa said, noting that February storms have already brought the water content up substantially.
As of Thursday, throughout Idaho, snowpack ranged from 79 percent of normal in the northern panhandle to 176 percent in the southeastern part of the state. The Little Wood Basin was at 159 percent and the Big Lost Basin at 154 percent.
“In January, the Salmon River was the dividing track for the jet stream and storm systems that brought well below-normal precipitation to the north and up to twice normal January amounts south of the river,” said Ron Abramovich, NRCS water supply specialist.
Sun Valley Ski Patrol Director Mike Lloyd said that even though the patrol has had to do more avalanche-control work this winter than it normally does, Bald Mountain hasn’t had any avalanche problems. He said the snowpack is stable at depth.
“We didn’t have any snow in November to get dry and rotten,” he said.
However, heavy rain that came with warm temperatures on Thursday prompted Sun Valley Co. to temporarily close Bald Mountain because of concerns about avalanches and safety.
The NRCS reported that water supply shortages are not expected this growing season, though Abramovich noted that “we’re nowhere near the end of the game.”
“Let’s just hope the low-elevation snow melts gradually,” he added.
by Greg Moore of the Mountain Express
