Warm weather to continue
<p>February’s warm temperatures melted all the snow around Brush Lake, leaving this unlucky snowshoe hare trying to find a place to hide.</p>
BONNERS FERRY — If February seemed unseasonably warm, you’re right. Bonners Ferry recorded the warmest February on record since 1907 with an average temperature of 37.7 degrees Fahrenheit.
The thermometer topped out at 50 degrees on two days--Feb. 8 and Feb. 10-- at the Boundary County airport and the coldest high wasn’t even below freezing! Feb. 1 ushered in the month with a high of 32 degrees--the lowest high for the month.
Even the lows were warm. The lowest low temperature was 19 degrees on Feb. 23. The highest low--42 degrees on Feb. 6.
Mountain snow didn’t fare well with February’s warm temperatures and minimal precipitation. The Boundary County Airport only recorded 2.1 inches of precipitation for the month.
On March 3 (after Monday’s dusting of snow), the Myrtle Creek SNOTEL site had two inches of snow (a snow-water equivalent
See(SWE) of 0.9 inches) which is 20 percent of average. The 30-year SWE average is 4.5 inches for this date.
Hidden Lake SNOTEL is faring better with a SWE of 18.8 inches--67 percent of average. The 30-year average as as March 3 is 48.3 inches. Though the SWE isn’t as low as it was in 2001 when there was only 13.4 inches on the same date.
The numbers are similar across the Kootenai River basin drainage into Montana. Despite precipitation at 99 percent of average, the average SWE is only 58 percent.
Only three basins within the Columbia River Basin have above average snow pack and two are nearby — the Flathead River Basin at 101 percent and the Upper Clark Fork River Basin at 112 percent.
Unfortunately, the forecasts aren’t above average for the Kootenai River Basin. The Northwest River Predication Center predicts water supply at Libby Dam to be 81 percent of average from April to September.
February may have been the beginning of an unseasonably warm, dry spring. The National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center predicts above average temperatures for March, April and May and an equal chance of above, below or normal amounts of precipitation.
For now, enjoy the warming trend forecasted for this weekend with highs in the 50’s.