Parts of Idaho saw inches of precipitation this weekend and into Monday as an atmospheric river hit the Northwest. One Boise water expert said it could be enough to knock Idaho’s drought conditions down a level, at least in the southern part of the state.
Boise Airport saw .71 inches of rain since the weekend, Bellevue in Blaine County saw 2.8 inches and Pine in Elmore County saw nearly five inches, according to the National Weather Service.
A photo shared by Sun Valley Ski Patrol showed Bald Mountain, home to the ski resort, got 23 inches of snow as of Monday afternoon.
Several cities, including Pocatello, Burley and Stanley set the Oct. 25 daily precipitation record.
🌧️ 24-hour precipitation totals across the region as of 6am MDT. Bogus Basin has picked up 4.53" of precipitation, while Pine has seen 4.51". The mountains picked up 1-4" of precipitation over the past 24 hours! Parts of the Sierra Nevada picked up 10"! #idwx #orwx pic.twitter.com/CIfnXZyTRh
— NWS Boise (@NWSBoise) October 25, 2021
“We’re very excited about this in the water community,” said David Hoekema, a hydrologist at the Idaho Department of Water Resources. “This is exactly what we want to see this time of year.”
The precipitation is a sign the water year is off to a good start, Hoekema said, and it’s much needed because as of last week the whole state was in at least a moderate drought, with about a quarter of it — made up of sections of central Idaho and north central Idaho — in the most severe drought category.
The Wood River and Lost River basins in south central Idaho have been in a drought for the better part of two years. Exceptional drought conditions expanded into the north central part of the state this summer.
Hoekema said while the storm system will likely improve drought conditions, it’s not enough to erase it completely. Still, October storms are really important.
“If you can saturate the soil column right before you go into the winter freeze,” Hoekema said, “then, in the springtime, when the snow melts, because the soil column is already saturated, that water’s going to go horizontally to the river system.”
That means more efficient spring runoff into the rivers.
To really eliminate the drought would take consistent storms throughout the winter — not just in November and December — and above-average precipitation, too, Hoekema said.
La Niña conditions predicted this winter could diminish the drought throughout the Northwest, according to NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center. La Niña tends to bring below-normal temperatures and above-normal precipitation.
Find reporter Rachel Cohen on Twitter @racheld_cohen
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