It has been a tough winter to try and figure out how the whitewater boating season would be in Idaho this summer, but the state's outfitters are really happy about all the snow that hit the mountains lately.

A series of major snowstorms boosted snowpacks dramatically in the second half of January, boosting the outlook for plenty of water for the boating season.

"What a difference a week makes," said Ron Abramovich, Idaho snow survey supervisor for the Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Ten days of winter storms caused mountain snowpack levels to jump significantly throughout the state. In some river basins, like the Owyhee in Southwest Idaho, snowpack levels more than doubled. The Boise Basin went from 55 percent of normal in mid-January to 90 percent of normal as of Feb. 1.

The Salmon River now has 85 percent of normal snowpack, and the Middle Fork of the Salmon made a similar leap to 82 percent.

The Clearwater River Basin increased from 67 percent to 92 percent of normal snowpack levels as a result of the January storms.

"It's looking to be a safe, enjoyable level," said Marty Smith, owner of Three Rivers Rafting, which runs trips on the Salmon, Selway and Lochsa rivers. "If we get too much snow up here, it turns people off."

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A big splash on the Lochsa River. File photo by Pete Zimowsky/Idaho Statesman.

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