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Montana news about the environment, natural resources, wildlife, climate change and more.

Montana drought monitoring network continues to expand

You may not know the Montana Climate Office, but if you've ever opened your phone's weather app or checked out conditions from the National Weather Service, you’ve used their data.

“We run the largest weather station network in the state of Montana. So we're getting data and every five minutes about precipitation, temperature, rainfall, snowfall, soil, moisture, you name it,” says Kyle Bocinsky, the office's Director of Climate Extension.

Last year the Climate Office added 37 new sensors to its drought monitor network, tying into broader multi-state efforts to track snowpack and soil moisture across the Upper Missouri River Basin.

By 2028 there will be 540 stations across that region, making it one of the densest networks of stations in the world.

“What we can do is use this network as an early warning system to say, are we looking at a situation where our soil moisture is well below normal for this time of year? That may tell us something about how our crops are going to come in or how that forage is going to come in for livestock,” Bocinsky says.

The information is also given to the state and federal government to inform policy decisions and federal assistance for farmers, ranchers and businesses impacted by drought.

The monitor data is publicly available through the Climate Office’s site

Bocinsky says this year, in addition to the new monitors, he’s excited about new agricultural tools that can show producers things like measurements of the amount of heat that helps plants grow, or looking at where extreme temperatures could impact the health of livestock.

Ellis Juhlin is MTPR's Environmental Reporter. She covers wildlife, natural resources, climate change and agriculture stories. She worked at Utah Public Radio and Yellowstone Public Radio prior to joining MTPR, and in wildlife conservation before becoming a journalist. She has a Master's Degree in Ecology from Utah State University and is an average birder who wants you to keep your cat indoors. Her life is run by her three dogs, one of which is afraid of birds.

ellis.juhlin@mso.umt.edu
406-272-2568
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