Cool, wet conditions improve snowpack
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News from NRCS
BOZEMAN — April marked the start of a major weather pattern change which brought much needed precipitation to Montana, and while April was a wet month, May was even wetter in certain areas.
Mountain precipitation was lowest in parts of Central Montana, the Flathead Lake area, and the Upper Clark Fork region where totals ranged from about two to five inches in May, which compared to normal is about 70% to 100% for those regions.
“This weather pattern change was just in time as snowpack conditions were looking grim on April 1 in all locations except northwest Montana and the northern Rocky Mountain Front,” said USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Hydrologist Eric Larson. April and May combined brought more precipitation than January through March at most SNOTEL sites in the region.
As a result of the above normal precipitation over the last two months, the snowpack has improved significantly.
“These percentages are the highest they have been all year, but when considering conditions earlier this season a much different picture is painted,” said Larson.
In northwest Montana, snowmelt that began in earnest at the end of April continued to progress in May at rates that were close to normal and most streams in the Kootenai, Flathead, Clark Fork, and Bitterroot basins observed flows in May that were normal for this time of year. Looking forward, the Kootenai, Flathead River, and northern Rocky Mountain Front have had consistent precipitation and snowfall this winter and are forecasted to have well above normal streamflows for the June through July period.
