Montana’s snowpack is light for this time of year after a dry and unseasonably warm January.
According to a report released Feb. 5, snowpack in the mid to low elevations is below average.
Lower elevations have been hit the hardest. Conditions improve higher up, but only two mountain basins hold the median Snow Water Equivalent, which is a measure of the amount of water contained in snowpack.
Most snowpack monitoring stations are seeing a deficit anywhere between one and five inches below the median. The snow that is there is also far denser than normal because of January’s warmer weather.
Montana does not reach its peak snowpack until late spring. Experts say conditions at that point will impact summer streamflow far more than than this month’s preliminary snapshot.
