01/03/06 Most basins have above normal snowpack

First half of December, dry in Idaho. Second half, warmer but very wet. Ron Abromovich of the NRCS snow survey team says most of the state has above normal snowpack today. ABROMOVICH "Salmon River basin is 113 percent of average, Weiser basin is 95, Payette 112 percent, Boise basin 116, Big Wood is 126 percent, along with the Little Wood at 125 and the Big Lost basin is 127 percent. Little Lost and Birch basins are 99 percent of average, Henry's Fork and Tetons are 110, Snake above Palisades 106 percent, Oakley basin is 126, Salmon Falls 115, Bruneau 116, Owyhee basin 83 and the Bear River is 110 percent of average for the snowpack today." The Panhandle region only has 63 percent of a normal snowpack and the Clearwater basin has 75 percent. These wet storms have come with warm temperatures. Abromovich says they had three to four inches of rain in their gauges late last month in the Clearwater basin and at sites in the West Central Mountains. Voice of Idaho Agriculture Bill Scott