The mountain snowpack remains above normal in most of Idaho, USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service reports.

Although January was drier than usual with below-normal snowfall north of the Snake River, all snow telemetry sites recorded increases in snow-water equivalent, the Feb. 1 Idaho Water Supply Outlook Report said.

Snowpack is above normal in the state for the water year that started Oct. 1 except for the northern region’s Panhandle and Clearwater basins. Low temperatures last month preserved snowpack at all elevations in the Panhandle and at low and middle elevations in the rest of the state.

Cool, wet conditions are predicted for the rest of winter, including below-normal temperatures this month, the report said.

Increased chances of above-normal precipitation north of the Snake River Plain are suggested by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Climate Prediction Center’s most recent one-month outlook.

Areas with low reservoir levels — such as the Upper Snake, Salmon Falls and Goose Creek basins — “need the snowpack to continue to increase to well above normal conditions to meet water supply demands this spring,” hydrologist Erin Whorton, NRCS Idaho water supply specialist, said in a release.

Soil moisture is less than normal in many areas, including the Snake headwaters, the northern region and the central region extending south through the Wood River Basin. Hydrologists are concerned that dry soils will reduce runoff this spring as the soil absorbs more of the snowmelt, Whorton said.

Drier than normal conditions for a third straight year included an especially warm, dry October, she said in an interview. “Colder than normal temperatures and early snowfall in November locked in dry soil conditions.”

Reduced soil moisture also raises water-supply concerns for dryland farming and ranch operations in these regions, the report said.

Water supplies are favorable in the Boise, Wood and Lost basins, and for Lake Owyhee and Bear Lake users, Whorton said.

Ample runoff is expected this spring south of the Salmon River Basin, except in Payette, Weiser and Henry’s Fork-Teton basins. Streamflow is expected to be below normal in the north.

Drought severity dropped last month in the Wood and Lost river basins, in the central mountains, due to above-normal snowpack, NRCS reported. The basins stand a good chance of having adequate water supplies if snowpack remains above normal and forecasts for above-normal runoff hold.

Water levels in the Mackay, Little Wood and especially Magic reservoirs remain below normal.

The Feb. 1 snowpack was 88% to 92% of normal in the north and 101% to 149% south of the Clearwater and Salmon basins.