Precip now near average
<p>He may be retired but Mark Barker still likes to run the snowblower in front of his Main Street building on Monday.</p>
BONNERS FERRY — The recent heavy snowfall from a large storm system over the Pacific Northwest dumped nearly a foot of snow on the residents of Boundary County on Jan. 4 and 5.
The recent snowfall brought the precipitation accumulation at the Myrtle Creek Snowtel site close to the area’s 20-year average.
Schools were closed across the area as residents cleared snow from roads and driveways, and plowing services were booked solid. It was afternoon before many of the county roads were cleared and residents could slowly make their way to town.
At 3,520 feet, the Myrtle Creek Snowtel site is more than 1500 feet in elevation higher than the city of Bonners Ferry.
Warmer weather through the end of the year kept snow levels far below seasonal averages, with the site reporting only an inch of accumulation until Christmas eve.
Just before the new year, a storm system dropped nine inches of snow at Myrtle Creek, and the most recent storm added nine more. The Snowtel report lists the current depth at 16 inches, and reports precipitation accumulation at 93 percent of average.
the valley floor, measurements reported nearly a foot of snow was added to the snowpack before warmer weather began melting and packing down the snow. While snow fell in Bonners Ferry until nearly the end of the day before turning to rain on Jan. 5, there were reports of freezing rain earlier in the day in Sandpoint and Spokane.
The Schweitzer Basin Snowtel site reports a snow depth of 55 inches, and 92 percent of average precipitation so far.
At the ski resort, the Jan. 6 snow report listed 20 inches of snow at the base and 38 inches of snow at mid elevations, but warm weather has wreaked havoc on snow conditions, resulting in some spring-like skiing. Last year, the base depth was 27 inches on the same day, but was over 36 inches within a week.
River levels were down in Bonners Ferry all week due to maintenance activities at Libby Dam, but Army Corps Water Manager Joel Fenolio reports that Lake Koocanusa above the dam was being drafted to a level of 2411 feet in order to meet flood risk management levels, due to last year’s 117 percent of average inflows from April to August.
If recent years are any predictor for this spring’s precipitation, heavy spring rain and snow will bring precipitation levels back above 20 year averages.
Snowtel data, as well as a number of other climate data can be accessed through the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service website at www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov by clicking on the interactive map link. Blue dots represent active Snowtel data gathering locations.