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Hi, I'm Bryan Yeaton and this is the Weather Notebook.

A good snowpack plus warm spring weather illustrates the point that what goes up on the mountain must come down. In Boise, Idaho, spring means the "big water blowout." Correspondent Jeff Rice explains.

In Boise, kayakers and rafters are lucky enough to live within an hour and a half of four major rivers. This is the time of year that they live for. The warmer temperatures release the massive alpine snowpacks and signal that "the big water blowout" is here.

WS: Whoo hoo! Yea, it's a lot of fun. It's chocolate and it's cookin'.

Boise rafter and kayaker Will Stone finds some of the best local whitewater on the famed Salmon river, the longest stretch of undammed river in the lower 48. It's a rolling boil that rushes at 80,000 to 100,000 cubic feet per second.

WS: Usually when you're going down a river and you come upon a big rapid, you can hear it as you're coming up on the thing. And it raises a lot of tension in the boat for people who haven't been down the river because of course you see the water droppin' off out from under... And just the roar of it...

It's not for beginners, but for the initiated, spring is the time to wash away the long winter and head for the big water.

WS: Strap your helmet on, put on a dry suit... In this boat we're gonna flip... and we'll aim for holes, Oh yea. It's fun. It's a lot of fun.

Correspondent Jeff Rice stays dry in Boise, Idaho. The Weather Notebook is a production of the Mount Washington Observatory. Our program is supported by Subaru and the National Science Foundation. Thanks today to Producer Margaret Landsman and Assistant Producer Doug Sanborn.