IDAHO CITY, Idaho — Idaho has gotten a lot of snow this winter.
That snow can be fun to ski and snowmobile in, but the water it becomes is the lifeblood of Idaho - for drinking, and agriculture.
Hydrologists at the USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) went out and measured snowpack levels across Idaho on Thursday to forecast how much water the state will have this year.
There are 900 SNOWTEL stations in the Western United States that automatically measure the snowpack every 15 minutes. But once a month during the winter, hydrologists manually measure more than 1,100 snow courses - 129 of those are in Idaho.
"As you can see, it's not the end of winter. It's snowing very hard today," Erin Whorton, a meteorologist at the NRCS said. "But this is one of the measurements that is made monthly here at the snow courses and has been happening for 86 years at this spot."
Hydrologists plunge a long, metal device called a federal sampler into the snow to measure its depth. They then weigh that snow to find its density - which gives them an idea of how much water content is in the snow.
The snowpack at Mores Creek Summit was measured to be between 95 and 105 inches deep.
"That is probably about 30-35 inches of water if you melted," Whorton said. "We care about how much water is in the snowpack because that helps us know how much water is going to be available in our rivers and streams come spring."
The data gathered in snowpack measurements is critical for water supply forecasts.
"We use this data, the snowpack data, to make streamflow forecasts, and that way we get an idea of how much water is going to be available for producers, how much is going to fill the reservoirs, and what water supply is going to look like this irrigation season," Whorton said.
If the snowfall on Thursday wasn't proof enough, Whorton says that overall, the Gem State has a strong snowpack this year.
"If you just look at Idaho's snowpack in general, it's well above normal south of the Salmon Basin, and near - to a little bit below normal in northern Idaho," Whorton said. "But the snowpack is pretty darn healthy this year. We're having a very good winter in Idaho."
Mores Creek Summit is at 109% of its normal snowpack - above the 30-year average. The Boise Basin is at 125% of normal snowpack.
"I just think it's a good winter, and hopefully this is the kind of snowpack we need to end drought conditions - or at least reduce them significantly in Idaho," Whorton said. "I think the snowpack bodes really well for water supply this coming season."
An interactive map of snow water equivalent levels across Idaho can be viewed on the NRCS website.
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