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NEWPORT — The Lower Pend Oreille sub-basin has had a prolonged dry period this winter.
Lower Pend Oreille’s boundaries include Pend Oreille and Bonner Counties. It is also in the Greater Pend Oreille basin encompassing parts of Northeastern Washington, Northern Idaho and Western Montana.
“Lower Pend Oreille really experienced drier conditions starting around Jan. 6, Jan. 5,” said Matt Warbritton, a supervisory hydrologist with the National Resources Conservation Service. “So, a little bit longer for the parts of Pend Oreille in Northern Idaho and Northeastern Washington.”
A series of greater winter storms impacted Greater Pend Oreille — and to a lesser extent, Lower Pend Oreille — starting at the end of October 2024. Warbritton said the greatest of those storms impacted the basin for most of December.
But a dry period soon began in Greater Pend Oreille on Jan. 12, continuing until the end of the month. For Lower Pend Oreille, the dry period began even earlier that month before ending around the same time.
“Much of the active storm patterns so far this year have heavily favored areas more towards the south and also the central portions of Washington,” Warbritton said.
These winter storms come from atmospheric rivers transferring moisture from the Pacific Ocean to parts of the Pacific Northwest. The most significant transfers occurred in November and December before Greater Pend Oreille entered its dry period in January.
It was not until the weekend of Jan. 31 to Feb. 2 that another atmospheric river transferred more moisture into the region.
“Hopefully, throughout this winter, we see some more storm impacts that favor a little bit higher up on the northwestern coast and kind of spread the wealth a bit,” Warbritton said.
However, snowpack in Lower Pend Oreille has been normal, Warbritton said. As of Feb. 1, Lower Pend Oreille is at 101% of the snowpack median — a vast improvement from 62%, which Warbritton said the sub-basin was around that time last year.
And Lower Pend Oreille still has time for more snow, Warbritton said.
“We’re not quite halfway through the snow season, and that’s judged based on the historical onset of snow accumulation, and also the typical timing for peak snowpack,” Warbritton said.
While snowpack in Lower Pend Oreille has been normal, Warbritton notes that precipitation in Lower Pend Oreille — and Greater Pend Oreille — has been slightly below normal.
He advises agricultural workers and others affected by below-normal precipitation to check NRCS’s water supply reports. To access them, visit the Snow Survey and Water Supply Forecasting Program webpage on NRCS’ website at www.nrcs. usda.gov.
