Idaho Forecast

[JohnScott]

The good news is that the snowpack in Idaho is at least 100% of normal almost everywhere in the state. The farther north you go, the better the conditions. The Panhandle and the Clearwater regions are closer to 120%, and some of the Central Mountains regions, like the Wood River and Lost River, are around 115%. The Snake River is kind of a mixed bag, but looks good overall, probably a little better than 100%. Farther south, it does get a bit iffy.

It looks like there is a decent chance the precipitation will keep coming for a while. So after the long, hot, dry late spring, summer and early fall we had last year, there's reason for some real optimism for the coming fishing season.

Wondering how much damage the very low water conditions and high water temperatures last season did to the food chain, at least in the smaller rivers and streams. Time will tell.

Hopefully, you'll be getting some interesting fishing reports from this neck of the woods this year.

[RS1]

A friend of mine has a cabin on H's Fork. In back of Pond's Lodge. His wife told me she hasn't seen this much snow in the 13 years they've had the cabin. I'm doing a silent ky yi yippie yippie aye.
Another friend that lives in Rexberg has a guide service for some of the lakes northward Henry's and Sheridan, and he's about as happy as a pig in mud with the amount of precipt.
He had a bad year last year. Hope it's a killer for him this year.

[GRN]

I was looking at some info somewhere that showed the overall snow pack for all of N. America is the strongest it's been in decades... it also showed the revitalization of snow/ice mass on the northern cap which looks to have regained most all that has been lost in the last two decades due to what is feared to be global warming. Not saying I believe that their isn't global warming... but it's pretty clear that we have no real metric of the larger picture, hence reality. Anyway... glad to see it, we're embracing the promise of a very good season here as well.

[JohnScott]

Things continue to look good - barring any drastic changes in weather patterns, it will be a good water year for most of Idaho.

Only two regions in the southern part of the state are at or a little below normal.

The rest of the state is anywhere from 105% to 120% of normal precipitation, and the snowpacks are generally in good shape.

The further north, the better, although the Central Mountains are looking really good, as is the Henry's Fork drainage.

The western part of the state is doing reasonably well, as is the far southwestern region.

Lots of reason for optimism regarding the fisheries and the fishing, with the only question remaining how seriously was the food chain affected by the terribly dry hot weather from last spring through the early fall.

[JohnScott]

Run off was a bit late this spring due to the continuing cool weather.

Things changed about a week or so ago. Warm days and warm overnight lows. Run off has come with a vengance, as expected.

Everything is running high and fast. For more specifics, google "Idaho Stream Flow" and check out of the USGS site ( first one up ).

One example - the Selway is running 33,800 CFS compared to an historical average of 13,500, the Lochsa is at 24,500 CFS compared to the average 10,200, and the Clearwater near Peck is going wild at 74,300 CFS compared to the average 33,800 !!

Don't worry, folks. The Selway and Lochsa will settle down in time for the Idaho Fish-In.

[JohnScott]

Not long after the last update, we had a long cool spell.

Then it warmed for good about ten days ago. Run off came back big time.

But checking flows on most of the major river systems around Idaho this morning, it looks like almost everything peaked on or about 6-23 and is now starting to drop. A lot of rivers are still well above normal so run off isn't over by a long shot, but it won't be long before a lot of water really opens up.

Should have good water into late summer / early fall this year.

The EXCEPTION seems to be the very eastern edge of Idaho and into western Wyoming. Some of those rivers are still running really high and don't look like they have peaked, or maybe are just peaking at this time.

The forecast for the next week or so is for quite warm weather.