IDAHO FALLS -- Relatively little snow has accumulated in many Idaho mountain ranges so far this fall and winter.
As of Monday, snowpack was just 54 percent of normal in the area above Palisades Reservoir in eastern Idaho. Snowpack was between 41 percent and 57 percent of normal in the Upper Snake River region, the Idaho Falls Post-Register reports.
Forecasters hesitate to predict that the situation either will change or stay the same. The reason is because this year's El Nino effect, which normally would produce warmer and drier weather, is conflicting with a longer-term weather pattern that is encouraging cooler weather.
Mike Houston, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Pocatello, said years like this one tend to cloud his crystal ball.
