Most of Montana’s high elevation snowpack is looking good. Montana entered April on relatively steady footing when it comes to our snowpack levels. The latest water supply outlook from the Natural Resources Conservation Service in Bozeman notes new snowfall bolstered snowpack during March’s first two weeks.Water Supply Specialist Lucas Zukiewicz says as of April 1, northwestern Montana generally had above-average snowpack.
“As we move east of the Divide, there are some areas along the Divide and a little bit to the east of it which have snowpack, which is below normal at the lower elevations," Zukiewicz says. "In general, the higher elevations are hanging in there and didn’t see a lot of decrease during March.”
He says most of Montana’s reservoirs are currently at near- to above-average levels for this time of year. The same is true for our streamflows. Zukiewicz says most large rivers throughout Montana are forecast to see near to above average flows right through late July. Those include:
“Most of those west of the Divide," Zukiewicz says. "As we move across to the east, most of the rivers are near to slightly above average. There are a few areas where we have a little bit of concern just based on the low snowpack totals for April first. Some of those are in southwest Montana and central Montana.”
Zukiewicz points out that precipitation in western Montana generally starts to taper off in April and May, while those months tend to be the wettest of the year in eastern Montana.
