2025 Spring PNW Snowpack

PNW Regional Snowpack (USDA- https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs-initiatives/sswsf-snow-survey-and-water-supply-forecasting-program/national-water-and)

Spring is in full force in the Pacific Northwest and this winter of ‘24-’25 has kept a strong snowpack. Most regions of Washington are close to 100% of the median with the northern cascades being slightly below average. Oregon and Idaho are looking very strong with most basins reporting well above average. Montana is also looking good with snowpack generally average or above average at this time of year. It’s still possible that late spring cold storms will bring more snow to the PNW mountains, but generally the snowpack peaks around April 1st in NE Oregon and declines after that (see plot below). Overall this hopefully will lead to good river flows for spring/summer paddling, lower forest fire danger, and plenty of irrigation supply for farmers.

I also want to give a special shout-out to the hard woking civil servants at the USDA for providing this data to so many folks who rely on it (not just no-name bloggers like myself). The US federal government has taken some blows recently. If you know a federal employee that serves our country, please take a moment to thank them for what they do.

I hope this blog post finds you well. If you care to make a comparison to last year around the same time just flip backwards in the blog entries and you will get there. Get outside and enjoy spring!

High Ridge Snotel Station Data for Winter ‘24-’25 (Blue Mtns NE Oregon) USDA

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