Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
We're working to fix a technical issue causing problems with our broadcasts. We'll have it resolved as soon as possible. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Western Montana Snowpack Looks Good Headed Into Spring

Montana Sub-basin Snow-Water Equivalent, March 01, 2017.
USDA NRCS
Montana Sub-basin Snow-Water Equivalent, March 01, 2017.

February isn't usually Montana’s biggest snow month, but this year proved to be a major exception. Substantial snow fell across the state during February's first two weeks; especially in Montana's northern and southern basins.

Lucas Zukiewicz of the Natural Resources and Conservation Service says it was a badly needed shot-in-the-arm after January's anemic snow totals:

"Right now our snowpack is right near normal. It's variable depending on elevation, but if we're looking at the overall basins they're at or maybe just slightly-below-normal for our snowpack. But if we look at that in comparison to last month [January], they're up about 20 percent just from that one month [February] alone. Excellent news there. Lots of recovery," Zukiewicz says.

While one record-setting snow month is great news for Montana's soil, rivers and reservoirs, Zukiewicz says we'll need to keep getting good snow right through mid-April.

The water supply specialist also points out that a lot of good progress can get wiped out in short order:

"We've seen that happen two years in a row. We could even go back to 2014 when we had a really big snowpack and we almost had no May precipitation, which is also important. Right now we're hoping that we're going to continue accumulating through April, start to see our normal spring pattern and keep it cool."

The short-term forecast for the next two weeks is calling for more cool and wet weather. But Zukiewicz, an NRCS water supply specialist, notes the roller coaster weather pattern of the past several months: October was really wet, November very dry, December moderately wet, January was dry and February was very wet.

The critical late-winter and spring weather patterns are important indicators of the summer stream flows, reservoir levels and fire danger.

Edward O’Brien first landed at Montana Public Radio three decades ago as a news intern while attending the UM School of Journalism. He covers a wide range of stories from around the state.
edward.obrien@umt.edu.  
(406) 243-4065
Become a sustaining member for as low as $5/month
Make an annual or one-time donation to support MTPR
Pay an existing pledge or update your payment information
Related Content