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PORTLAND — Matt Warbritton is concerned about the snowpack in the Lower Pend Oreille sub-basin this year.
Unlike last year, the snow water equivalent is at about 58% of normal — almost two-thirds of what it was around the same time last year. A few SNOwpack TELemery stations in and near the sub-basin, which covers Pend Oreille County and part of Bonner County, recently observed record lows.
“Certainly, with the high dependency on snowpack for water supply in the basin, it is pretty concerning at this point to see this low of snowpack,” said Warbritton, a supervisory hydrologist with the Natural Resources Conservation Services.
Most of the snowpack in the sub-basin is “stuck” at elevations above 6,000 feet, Warbritton said, with those areas experiencing snowpack at or above normal. In areas below these elevations, however, snowpack is generally poor.
This is mostly due to abnormally warm temperatures in the sub-basin throughout fall and winter. December 2025 was a particularly warm month, Warbritton said, which caused precipitation to fall as rain instead of snow.
Unlike snowpack, water year-to-date precipitation is above normal at about 110%, though it was lower in January. Last year and the year before that, precipitation was between 82–89%.
“We’re seeing a little bit wetter conditions this year,” Warbritton said. “We’re just missing that snowpack.”
Though snowpack was higher last year, two years ago it was below normal. Warbritton attributes these changes to variability in the sub-basin’s climate.
“When we look at current weather conditions and more just very recent past weather conditions, it’s hard to associate weather patterns to a larger sort of climatic pattern,” Warbritton said.
Many elevations across the Greater Pend Oreille basin, which encompasses parts of northeast Washington, north Idaho and west Montana, are experiencing low snowpack.
If current snowpack conditions continue for the remainder of the snow season, Warbritton predicts impacts on the availability of water resources across the basin, which range from smaller reservoirs to larger ones such as Lake Pend Oreille and Priest Lake. As of January, storage at the lakes is still above normal at 132% and 151% of the median, respectively.
Low snowpack in the winter contributes to high risk of wildfire, drought and other dry conditions in the summer, with less moisture available for soil and vegetation.
“It’s wetter than some other parts of eastern and central Washington, but generally comparatively drier than the Cascades,” Warbritton said. “So something else to consider as we move through the winter.”
Businesses like ski resorts are experiencing the immediate effects of low snowpack. Jon Paul Driver, a Pend Oreille and Spokane County farmer and an expert in farm and ranch management, said farms and other entities are soon to follow.
At farms, low snowpack means less irrigation water and less snow cover, which protects crops from cold snaps, and more wildfire smoke, which makes farm labor harder and less safe, Driver said. Additionally, Pend Oreille County’s abnormally dry to moderate levels of drought will continue for a fourth sequential year without enough snowpack, running farms out of business in a county that has already lost around 100 producers since 2017.
Low snowpack even suggests low instream flows, which Driver said may affect fisheries like those owned by the Kalispel Tribe.
“This is where agriculture and fisheries and forest management are all on the same page,” Driver said. “This is not a good situation.”
As opposed to several, smaller storms, Pend Oreille and West Bonner County residents must rely on larger storms to fill the gap in snowpack — none of which are in the forecast for the next two weeks, Warbritton said. Forecast accuracy is low beyond one week, let alone two.
The sub-basin is halfway through the snow season, but there is still February and March, which Warbritton said tend to see the highest rates of snow accumulation before snowpack peaks in mid-April. More rainfall in May and early June, Driver said, may also help farmers.
“So that period we really want to see more storm events and storm cycles add snow in the mountains,” Warbritton said.
He recommends that those who may be disproportionately impacted by abnormally low water supply in the summer, such as residents sourcing their water from smaller reservoirs, follow monthly water supply reports, forecasts and dayto- day conditions on the NRCS website at nrcs.usda.gov.
