For Margaret Laybourn, the snow has made for an exciting winter.

She and her family have been cross-country skiing in the Snowy Range near Centennial for some 30 years.

"I haven't seen snow like yesterday's for at least six years," she said in an e-mail Monday.

The snow, she said, was almost 5 feet deep and was "marshmallowed" on tree stumps.

"It was gorgeous powder, and my husband was thinking of May when the runoff will be splashing down into the Platte River, where he canoes."

Indeed, that may be the case.

According to water managers, snowpack levels are high around the state - significantly higher than last year at this time. On Monday, the statewide total was 105 percent of the historical average, compared with last year's 82 percent.

Although snowpack levels are up around most of the state this winter, water managers are still urging people to be conservative with water use this year. John Lawson, area manager for the Bureau of Reclamation, said although it appears runoff levels are higher in some areas of the state, some reservoirs are still depleted, and it will take several years of high water to get back to desired levels.

"Being in the water business, you're never satisfied," Lawson said.

Still, in southeast Wyoming - where Seminoe and Pathfinder reservoirs have struggled in recent years - snowpack numbers are up above the 30-year average. On Monday, snowpack was 113 percent of average for the Upper North Platte Basin. That's a jump from this time last year, when snowpack was 90 percent of average. On the Lower North Platte, snowpack was 105 percent of average Monday, compared with 83 percent last year.

But reservoirs are still low, with Pathfinder and Seminoe reservoirs holding just 29 and 40 percent of total capacity, respectively.

In the Wind River Basin, snowpack numbers are similar to last year. Last year at this time snowpack was 87 percent of average, and this year it stands at 89 percent.

But Boysen Reservoir, fed by the Wind River, last year was well above average capacity, due mainly to spring precipitation, Lawson said.

"The good news is because of the recovery on those (reservoirs) last year, even with this lower snowpack, we still have a good year coming up," he said.

The situation is reversed for the North Platte, which has higher-than-average snowpack levels but lower overall reservoir levels.

"The North Platte is far from any recovery," he said. In upcoming meetings with water users, Lawson said he will emphasize that people need to be conservative.

Many of the winter's storms have hammered the western part of the state, where the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort has had a banner year with snowfall. Total snowfall there has been 434 inches.

According to Chad Hahn, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Riverton, snow that came across the state over the weekend will move out, bringing clearer skies to most places east of the Continental Divide. West of the divide, expect another storm system tonight.

Hahn said there is a "very active weather pattern" coming across the state, with systems coming through quickly.

Reporter Whitney Royster can be reached at (307) 734-0260 or at royster@tribcsp.com.