From Kerry McClay, National SnowSchool Director (4/30/25)

Every winter, vast quantities of snow accumulate in the mountains. As temperatures warm in the spring and summer, that snow melts, flowing downhill into rivers and streams. This snowmelt from snowpack is the West’s largest source of water. Measuring this vital resource is the job of the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Snow Survey and Water Supply Forecasting Program, which uses a network of nearly 1,000 SNOTEL (SNOpack TELemetry) weather stations across the region.

Recently, Winter Wildlands Alliance rallied the outdoor recreation community to speak out against proposed devastating cuts to the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Snow Survey and Water Supply Forecasting program. While SNOTEL’s role in water management is well known and is often associated with informing farmers and dam managers of water supply, the SNOTEL network also plays a lesser-known but critical role in outdoor recreation and safety. 

To help illustrate this point, I talked with Ron Abramovich, retired Idaho SNOTEL professional (and a big supporter of SnowSchool!). 

Back in the late 1990s, Abramovich was approached by the outdoor recreation community in Idaho about a big problem for whitewater rafters:

Part of the problem was that rafters and kayakers were launching onto rivers like the Middle Fork of the Salmon for mutli-day off-the-grid trips without any way of knowing that a spike in river flow might be coming.  A rapid that’s normally manageable at one flow can become suddenly deadly if the river flow surges. 

Working with the Idaho Outfitters & Guides Association, Abramovich and the team at NRCS SNOTEL came up with a solution. 

Building on previous work by SNOTEL professionals to help reservoir managers in Idaho know when a river flow might spike, Abramovich continued discovering key patterns for the Middle Fork of the Salmon and the Banner Summit SNOTEL station. Abramovich and previous staff  found that the river was most likely to peak—reaching its snowmelt seasonal peak flow—when about half the snow had melted.

“After studying and using additional years of  SNOTEL data and peak flow data, with research by Boise State University, we discovered that the Middle Fork of the Salmon River is very likely to peak when about 61-66% of the snowpack has melted at the Banner Summit SNOTEL station located in that watershed. Once that 61-66% number has passed, there’s not really enough snow left in the mountains for the river to peak again with out additional rain or hot temperatures. But if you get on the river before that number has been reached, flows can still increase to  dangerous levels.” 

After the Middle Fork of the Salmon, Abramovich then applied this methodology and worked to crack this code for each river across Idaho. To help keep the whitewater community informed about imminent peak river flows, NRCS built a large email list of hundreds of key river professionals in watersheds across the state.  Even now, in retirement, Abramovich continues to put out regular “snow to flow” observations on his personal blog to help keep the river community informed.

“There’s no way of knowing how many lives we saved by developing this.”

To make these peak flow forecasts, SNOTEL professionals rely on daily data showing how much snow remains in the mountains. They have to know what the peak snowpack level (snow water equivalent) was for that winter at that specific station location and then be able to track the snowpack as it melts each day through the spring. Because SNOTEL stations are located in rugged mountain zones and subjected to harsh weather conditions, instruments can often break or go offline. If the data goes offline, a field crew must move quickly to fix the problem, otherwise safety-critical data disappears and the community is suddenly flying blind with regard to peak river flow. 

The SNOTEL system is just one example of how investment in science and monitoring doesn’t just help farmers and dam operators—it protects outdoor recreationists, too. That’s why Winter Wildlands Alliance recently organized a coalition of 48 organizations and businesses to urge the NRCS to maintain full funding for the Snow Survey and Water Supply Forecasting Program. 

If you believe in the power of science, advocacy, and community to protect the places and experiences we love, join us. Become a member or subscriber today and help us continue to grow, mobilize and speak out on critical issues like this.

 “This data saves lives. It’s critical that we understand it.” 

Let’s make sure it keeps flowing.