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You could say 2006 was the year of bipolar weather in New Mexico.

It started with dry winter and spring that left water lovers in the state feeling flat and depressed.

Then came the summer monsoons, elating residents with thoughts of flowing rivers, filling lakes and green countryside.

A dry fall followed, once again withering the hopes of many a water watcher.

Now, with the forecast of a wetter-than-normal winter, things might be looking up again, said David Gutzler, a climatologist at the University of New Mexico.

"The big story of 2006 was seasonal variability," Gutzler said. "We had an extraordinarily dry winter and spring followed by an extraordinarily wet summer. Then it got dry again."

Despite the dramatic changes, overall, the year seems to have come out just about average in terms of temperature, precipitation and stream flow, said David Gensler, a hydrologist with the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District.

"Stream flow is typically running just about normal for this year - so is snowpack," Gensler said. "I know everybody sees the snow from these December storms and thinks we're in great shape, but it never quite works that way."

Figuring out how much snowpack the state can expect is just like predicting the weather, a tricky business.

But if the El Ni¤o pattern predicted to last through the spring holds, residents could find spirits rising again - along with ski area chairlifts - from nice snowpack that will keep recreation areas open and reservoir levels high throughout the year, Gensler said.

"Most of our snowpack usually falls in March and April," Gensler said. "But if that falls on dry ground up in the mountains, it doesn't do much. These little storms we're having could lead to a good frozen pack by February, and that will keep the March and April snow around longer."

Throughout 2006, precipitation was up a bit higher than normal, thanks to the wet monsoon season and to a lesser degree some of the moisture of the past two winter storms, said Todd Shoemake, a meteorologist intern at the National Weather Service.

"We are currently up to 11.97 inches of precipitation for the year - which makes us about 2.5 inches above normal," Shoemake said.

The record precipitation was 15.88 inches in 1941, he said.

Yearly temperatures were slightly higher than normal, mostly because of a weak El Ni¤o system in the Pacific, Shoemake said.

In December, median temperatures tend to be from 34 to 39 degrees. This December, the average was right smack in the middle at about 37, he said.

Precipitation for the month was also right about at normal. Total precipitation for the month, before Thursday's storm started, was 0.41 inches.

By the end of the storm, it should be at about 0.5 inches, slightly above the December average of 0.45 inches.

Long-term predictions are harder to make, but there is some evidence that high snowpack and wet winters are followed by dry summers in New Mexico, Gutzler said.

"I'd be hesitant to go out on a limb about next summer, though, until we have an idea of what the snowpack looks like," Gutzler said.

Remember - every dark cloud has a dark lining.

Overall, temperatures continue to get gradually warmer each year, following along with global warming models. If those patterns continue, by the mid-21st century, we could have almost no snowpack the state, he said.

"The climate model forecasts that go out into the 21st century show that persistent snowpack could just go away, but it's uncertain how soon," Gutzler said. "There's a lot of uncertainty in timing and numbers, but the trend is really clear."

In the meantime, at least residents can feel hopeful about reservoir levels. Elephant Butte is 25 percent full, which might not sound like a lot, but back in the spring, the predictions were a lot more depressing, Gensler said.

"Storage is pretty good this year," Gensler said. "Elephant Butte is back up over 500,000 acre feet today. They were forecasting that we'd have less than 100,000 acre feet back in late May and June. So we're doing really well."