Washington, Oregon snowpack well above normal

SEATTLE  — The average statewide snowpack for Washington and Oregon is well above normal for March after a harsh winter hopefully draws to a close.

Snowpack levels as of March 1 were 135 percent of normal for Washington, according to numbers released Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service.

The last time Washington's snowpack was well above normal on March 1 was in the winters of 2008-2009 and 1998-1999.

Q13 Chief Meteorologist Walter Kelley says it looks like we are on a ten-year cycle of "winter magic."

The same is true for our neighbor to the south.

Snow levels in Oregon sit at about 138 percent of normal.

The news comes as a boon for farmers, ranchers, and irrigators who have weathered several years of drought. If the weather remains cool and the snow doesn't melt until late spring, above-average stream levels could replenish drinking water supplies and also mean good news for migrating salmon, Scott Oviatt, a snow survey supervisory hydrologist for the USDA service said.

"Snow accumulation during February was twice the normal amount at many monitoring locations," he said.

Last year, excitement about near-average snowpack levels evaporated when unusually warm April weather melted the snow early, depriving farmers, salmon and reservoir operators of late-season runoff they needed.