If you are a regular reader you have heard me say many times that the more water in the North Fork of the Snake River, the more water we have available for snowmaking. We do have some very strict requirements to keep the streamflow at a level high enough to prevent harming aquatic life.
Yesterday the stream gauge for the Snake River, about half a dozen miles downstream from The Basin was reading 38 cfs (cubic feet per second). The mean streamflow for October 3, based on 66 years of data, is 31 cfs. So, yesterday's flow was about 23% above normal for the date. Additionally, these early season storms are really good at keeping flows up. The typical October pattern is snow for a few days, the sun pops out for a few days, melts the snow and brings the flow up.
That said, the streamflow is above normal and we are expecting a good snowmaking season.
