High snowpack could affect spring runoff
A blue sky day showed the promise of spring Saturday while a bird house along Taylor Road still had a snow covering.
Higher than average snowpack levels
could mean a high potential for flooding this spring.
The National Weather Service is
predicting that western Montana will reach flood stage this
year.
According to the Natural Resources
Conservation Service, snowpack accumulation in the Kootenai River
Basin is 117 percent of average.
Streamflow forecasts for April 1
through July 31 predict stream flows to be above average, according
to the Natural Resources Conservation Service.
The Kootenai River Basin is expected to
be 106 percent of average this year. Last year for the same period,
the Kootenai was forecasted at 63 percent of normal or well below
average.
The National Weather Service in
Missoula reports that the snow total for Libby is 44.8 inches or
107 percent of normal. Eureka is 55 inches and 184 percent of
normal.
Snow totals are from Oct. 1, 2010 to
March 6, 2011.