Henry’s Fork, January 13th, 2024
Headlines from Rob Van Kirk’s Henry’s Fork Drainage SWE Report of January 12th, 2024
- Yesterday’s precipitation was relatively light, keeping the water year total at 82% of average. SWE increased to 62% of average but is still the lowest on record for the date.
- Light precipitation is expected here over the next few days, while low temperatures in the range of -20 degrees are expected tomorrow morning.
- At an outflow of 409 cfs, Island Park Reservoir gained 55 ac-ft yesterday, all due to snowfall on the reservoir surface. The three reservoirs in the Henry’s Fork are 90% full, compared with 79% full on average.
- The upper Snake River reservoir system is 69% full, compared with 57% full on average.
Details
Light precipitation is expected to continue off and on through the weekend here, with much heavier amounts to our south. Another round of slightly heavier precipitation is possible on Tuesday and Wednesday. The latest 7-day forecast shows a very strong northwest-southeast gradient in precipitation for our region, with only a few one-hundredths of an inch expected at the northwest corner of the watershed but up to 1.5 inches in the southeast corner. Meanwhile, up to 4 inches of water equivalent are expected in the Wasatch Mountains of Utah over the next week. Looking 1-2 weeks out, much warmer temperatures with near-average precipitation are expected. Long-term outlooks as well as historical records give us a high probability of ending the winter with a below-average snowpack. Near-record high snowfall would be needed over the remainder of the winter just to put us at average in mid-April.
Rob Van Kirk, Ph.D.
Senior Scientist
P.O. Box 550
Ashton, ID 83420
208-881-3407 CELL
208-652-3568 FAX