DENVER (AP) - Every river basin in Colorado has risen above the 30-year average when it comes to snowpack and experts say the state appears to be bouncing back from a five-year drought.

"I think it is too early to say the drought is over. But now I would bet against it becoming a 10- or 20-year drought," federal climatologist Klaus Wolter said Friday after a snowstorm pounded northern Colorado.

Vast stretches of the West are still parched, with parts of Wyoming, Idaho and Montana still mired in severe drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor index maintained by the University of Nebraska.

The good news? Colorado, a top source of water for the West, is looking better. The Upper Colorado River basin on Friday was at 110 percent of average.

Even the hardest-hit part of Colorado, the southwest, is improving. Monte Vista potato farmer Ray Wright said the effects of the drought are still being felt, but the snowpack in the mountains circling the San Luis Valley is better than in recent years.

"It appears that at least this won't be a repeat of the last several years," Wright said. "It can be pretty discouraging to watch (snow) not accumulate."

The drought was particularly severe in the valley, where dwindling water supplies and shriveled grazing land have forced farmers to leave fields bare and ranchers are selling off their cattle.

Ski resorts have plenty to cheer about.

"Ski conditions are just fabulous," said Adam Aron, the CEO of Vail Resorts. The ski area is opening its back bowls a week ahead of schedule and in plenty of time for the busy holiday season.

Breckenridge, owned by Vail, picked up 14 inches early Friday while Vail itself reported 11 inches in 24 hours.

Southwestern Colorado began picking up snow earlier than the central and northern parts of the state. Until this week, northern regions were below average, including the rivers that serve Denver and Colorado Springs. As of Friday, the South Platte, a major source of water for Denver and northeast Colorado, was 112 percent of the average.

In one day, the Yampa-White River basin in the northwestern section of the state, went from 98 percent of average to 111 percent.

"There is not a single pocket of the state that is really falling behind," said Wolter, an atmospheric scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Boulder.

Still, he said a dry period is likely for the next several weeks.

"The fact that it is likely to dry out is very consistent with El Nino," he said, because wet springs associated with the Pacific weather pattern usually are preceded by a dry spell.

Wolter has predicted an El Nino system will produce a wetter-than-average spring in Colorado.

On the Net:

Colorado Climate Center: http://ccc.atmos.colostate.edu

Drought Monitor: http://www.drought.unl.edu/dm