When you see the Buffalo Fork snowmelt runoff peak happen in the upper Snake River basin, you know the snowmelt runoff season is winding down. Here’s an update with similar recession years to help in monitoring this year’s flow. Projections are made for some rivers if a peak wasn’t happening.
With some moisture moving in this weekend, we’ll soon see which rivers benefit from the moisture and which basins the moisture helps to slow the fires progress. This update has a few weather outlooks, and projected flow graphs along with comparisons to see how the Aug 6 flow projections preformed. Projections were pretty good. Rivers are easier to project when they are approaching their seasonal lows for the year.
Snow & Flow Summary for many of Idaho’s whitewater rivers. Current snow, water supply forecasts, analog snow years, and runoff examples for these years. Example runoff years used, illustrate a early to normal snow melt and a late melt that had a wet spring (2010). Also included, is bonus sneak peak at next winter, the year after a strong El Nino year like this year. Here’s an updated March weather slide from Cliff Mass Blog that shows high pressure is likely to move into the West March 13-20. This may start the lower elevation rivers to flow depending on air temperature levels.
Snow Weather and Flow 