BANKS, Idaho — The unseasonably warm and wet weather this week melted pretty much all snow except at the highest of elevations. While it's a bummer for skiers and snowboarders, kayakers got a December gift.
The South Fork of the Payette River doubled this week to 1,200 cubic feet per second, giving kayakers water levels they would normally see at the end of summer. The temperature on Wednesday was in the mid-50s when we prepared our boats for the Staircase section.
Check out the video to see some kayaking and the conditions up at Bogus Basin
Five of us set off down the class-four section. Northern Idaho experienced the same to an even greater degree, as the Lochsa is running at the highest it has run during the month of December in the last decade; the only other time it was even close was back in 2017.
However, the same weather that caused a bump in the water levels has created poor conditions for skiers and snowboarders, as no resort in our area has been able to even come close to fully opening.
It's a bummer for ski season.
"Heck yeah, I'm super stoked," said Nathan, a snowboarder who was checking out the conditions up near Bogus Basin. "I'll paint a picture for you, driving up here, it was just dry, there are just bits and pieces.
I talked with Bogus Basin, and they will have the Coach Chairlift spinning again this weekend solely because of their ability to make and save snow. However, they have not been able to run their snow guns because it has been too warm.
In the first week of December, the National Weather Service posted that Bogus Basin had the lowest snow water equivalent at this point than it has ever had since SNOTEL started recording data in 1999.
We use the snow water equivalent for the water outlook heading into spring and summer, and the numbers look abysmal. The Boise River Basin is 61 percent of average, the Payette is at 44 percent, and Weiser is at 27 percent.
However, the water outlook is a marathon and not a sprint and everything can change in a hurry. Although the short-term forecast doesn't look promising.
The next big benchmark for the ski resorts is Christmas break, as the resorts make the most revenue for day tickets during the holidays, and it would be a big hit if the snow doesn't arrive.
