Precip uptick forecast for state.(Evening)

Byline: Frank Zoretich fzoretich@abqtrib.com / 823-3623

The National Weather Service's Climate Prediction Center in Maryland has issued a seasonal forecast for January through March saying that New Mexico may receive up to 20 percent more precipitation than normal through the winter and into early spring.

But 120 percent of normal precipitation is the least it would take to build up enough of a mountain snowpack for streams and reservoirs in the state to start getting back to normal levels, said Dan Murray, water supply specialist in New Mexico for the federal Natural Resources Conservation Service.

"We need every bit of precipitation we can get," Murray said. "And …