Don’t let all the exposed grass and barren patches on our low-elevation hillsides lead you to assume Montana’s off to yet another unseasonably dry winter. The high country is telling a different tale.
According to the first snowpack report of the new year from U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service in Bozeman, snowpack is near to above normal across much of the state.
Most major basins have 90-100% of median snow water equivalent, that’s an important measurement of the water content in snowpack.
Some higher elevation drainages in the northwest, Yellowstone and Bighorn basins are leading the way on snowpack.
The Powder, Tongue, and Lower Clark Fork basins are lagging behind.
NRCS says December brought record-breaking precipitation. Over 70-percent of remote snowpack measuring sensors recorded their highest or second highest December precipitation.
NRCS says Montana’s low elevation snow deficits could still make big gains with just a few storms. Conversely, the healthy mountain surplus could dwindle away with a dry January.
NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center suggests the next couple of weeks could be warmer than normal across west central and southwest Montana, and wetter than average across most of the state.
