Wet weather in March and early April boosted southern Idaho’s snowpack to near the thirty-year average, Idaho Power officials said.
That means, of course, more water in rivers and lakes.
Right now, Shoshone Falls in the Magic Valley is putting on quite a show, where more than 15,000 cubic feet per second of water is pouring over one of the region’s most spectacular cascades.
“While specific drainages may have received above- or below-normal snow, combined levels for the mountains that feed the Snake River between its headwaters in western Wyoming and Brownlee Reservoir in Hells Canyon are at the average,” said Idaho Power spokesman Brad Bowlin.
This comes on the heels of record or near-record snow last winter, which left a lot of carryover water in the region’s reservoirs. Some of that water is being released now to make room for spring runoff.
The Northwest River Forecast Center predicts 6.4 million acre-feet of water will flow into Brownlee Reservoir from April through July –- 118 percent of the average inflow for that period, Bowlin said.
On Your Side’s Chief Meteorologist Scott Dorval says “With above average precipitation expected at least through April, these numbers could still rise.”
