PORTLAND - Heavy rain and snow have made this March wetter than average, building the snow pack in the Cascades, improving skiing and lowering the risk for wildfires, the state's climatologist said.

"Without a doubt, things have improved a lot," George Taylor said. "March has been a very good month in terms of snow."

He said the state is still below normal for the water year than began Oct. 1, but is "closer to normal than a month and a half ago."

At the beginning of March, the average snow pack in the Willamette drainage basin was 33 percent of normal, due to a dry fall and early winter.

By Tuesday, the Willamette snow pack had risen to 59 percent of normal with more snow forecast. The situation was even better on Mount Hood.

"At the Mount Hood test site, historically the deepest of any test site, it is 71 percent of normal," Taylor said. "Higher elevations are doing better than that, lower are doing worse ... At the highest elevations, the deepest snow pack occurs around April 1st."

That's good news for ski resorts, which were hurt by the late snow.

"You'll never make up for missing Thanksgiving, but once it started snowing it's been great," Timberline Lodge public affairs director Jon Tullis said. "There 's been a lot of talk about the lack of snow ... But when you look back on the charts of historical snow depths, the snowiest month of the year is March.

"The average amount for first week of April is just under 200 inches. By the time the snow stops, we're going to be right there," he said.

The snow and rain also were filling lakes, rivers and streams.

"I think we're going to have a great summer," said Terri Ritchie, owner of Lakeside Motel near Detroit Lake. The lake, she said, is "above normal and it's coming up."

The water level at Detroit Lake State Park is 1,545 feet, which is about average, according data from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Two years ago Detroit Lake was closed to boaters when the water level fell so low marina docks were sitting on a dry lake bed.

Even in Upper Klamath Lake, plagued by drought for the past two years, water levels were high enough to prompt the Bureau of Reclamation to allow an increased flow over the dam into the Link River leading to the Klamath River.

With new rainfall Tuesday, the Bureau asked PacifiCorp, which controls the dam, to increase the flow to 2,200 cubic feet per second, the highest flow since April 2000.

The heavy rains and snow could also ease wild fire dangers. Last summer wildfires burned hundreds of thousands of acres in Oregon and cost over $150 million to contain.

According to Taylor, last year's precipitation totals were about average, but the bulk fell in the fall and early winter, with a dry spring and summer.

So far this year, the trend is a dry fall and early winter, with an increase in precipitation in late winter. The later the moisture falls in the water year, the lower the risk for fires.

"We've had a very wet month of March, in some places twice the normal amount," Taylor said. "It's been good throughout the state." Portland has had 5.34 inches of rain for the month, above the average 3.08 inches.

"Most of the state is pretty close to normal for the water year. Some areas in southeast Oregon are below normal. The west side is looking good, though," He said. In the east, Pendleton has had 1.45 inches of rain for March, above the normal 1.02.

On the Columbia River, the Bonneville Power Administration is preparing to deal with a projected runoff of 20 percent below normal, said spokesman Bill Murlin. He said that's better than projections from last December, but still could translate into higher wholesale electricity rates.