Idaho snowpack (SNOTEL)
Idaho statewide snow water equivalent on 1 April each year, as a percent of the 1991-2020 median, computed from every active NRCS SNOTEL station in Idaho.
Figures
Source: USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, SNOTEL: 1 April Snow Water Equivalent, Percent of Median. Data period 2026.
| Measure | Value | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Snow water equivalent2026 | 10.8 inches | 2026 |
| Snow water equivalent, median2026 | 20 inches | 2026 |
Pages built on this dataset
Publisher
- Organization
- USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
- Publisher’s dataset
- SNOTEL: 1 April Snow Water Equivalent, Percent of Median
- File or API used
- https://wcc.sc.egov.usda.gov/awdbRestApi/services/v1/data
- Methodology
- https://wcc.sc.egov.usda.gov/reports/UpdateReport.html?report=Idaho
Coverage
- Geography
- Idaho, statewide
- Time coverage
- 1981-2026
- Update frequency
- Annual
- Retrieved
- September 8, 2026
- License of the records
- Public domain. U.S. federal government work.
- Rows
- 138 observations, 1981-2026
Measures
| Measure | What it measures | Unit |
|---|---|---|
| Snow water equivalent, percent of median | 1 April snow water equivalent as a percent of the 1991-2020 median, aggregated statewide across active SNOTEL stations: the sum of each station's reading divided by the sum of each station's median, times 100. | percent |
| Snow water equivalent | Mean 1 April snow water equivalent, in inches, across the active SNOTEL stations the percent-of-median figure uses that year (a station with both a valid reading and a valid median). A mean across stations, not a statewide total. The percent of median is the ratio of the summed readings to the summed medians, so dividing this mean by the mean median does not reproduce it. | inches |
| Snow water equivalent, median | Mean of the same stations' own published 1 April medians (the 1991 to 2020 normal), in inches, over the same station set as the snow water equivalent figure. | inches |
Caveats
- This is a statewide figure: the sum of each station's 1 April reading divided by the sum of each station's median, times 100.
- Each station needs at least 10 years of record before NRCS gives it a median; years before 1981 are excluded for this reason.
- The number of contributing stations changes year to year as Idaho's SNOTEL network has grown.
- Values are rounded to the nearest whole percent.
- The snow water equivalent and median figures are the mean, not the sum, of the contributing stations' own 1 April values and medians, because the station set is not fixed year to year. Their ratio is not the percent of median, which is the ratio of the two sums; the two agree only when every station's own ratio is identical. NRCS's live Update Report prints a percent for each basin and none for the state, and no absolute snow water equivalent for any basin or the state, so both figures are computed here from the same per-station API values the percent uses.
How to cite
Understand Idaho, “SNOTEL: 1 April Snow Water Equivalent, Percent of Median”, compiled from USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, SNOTEL: 1 April Snow Water Equivalent, Percent of Median. Retrieved September 8, 2026. https://understandidaho.com/data/nrcs-snowpack/.
Cite USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service directly for the figures themselves.
This page was last updated .