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Southwest Montana snowpack 80 percent below average


Posted: Monday, January 9, 2012 12:15 am
JOLENE KELLER, Chronicle Staff Writer | 0 comments
Looking outside, it may be hard to believe it’s January. Where snow banks usually accumulate in Bozeman, there are piles of dirt. Kids are sledding on grass and plows are parked. And for the first time in 20 years, the annual Bohart Ranch Nordic Fest was canceled on Sunday.
It’s been a weird, dry winter, and state water specialists are reporting that the snowpack in the mountains is, not surprisingly, well below average.
Kat Hickman, Bohart Ranch ski school director, said that nearly 200 people signed up take part in the free lessons and rentals at Bohart Sunday. They were told when they registered, however, that barring a snow miracle, there was a good chance the event would be canceled.
“It was a hard decision, but where we have our beginning section for lessons is firm and icy — difficult conditions to learn on,” Hickman said. “We don’t want our lessons to be a bad experience. Hopefully this Nordic Fest cancellation will be the first and last.”
Conditions were similar just up the road at Bridger Bowl, which was still reporting a measly 24-inch base on Sunday.
According to a recent report issued by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Montana statewide mountain snowpack is well below average and even further below last year, which was 70 percent above average.
The report states that so far this season southwest Montana snowpack has fared the worst in the state, 80 percent below average. On the other end of the snowfall spectrum, the Yellowstone River Basin has several sub-basins, most particularly in the lower Yellowstone River basins, which are above 100 percent of average.
“Although La Nina-like temperatures exist in the Pacific Ocean, weather patterns indicative of La Nina, which are typically wetter and colder than average, have been rare,” said Brian Domonkos, a NRCS snow water supply specialist.
According to NRCS data, Montana’s current overall conditions compare closely with the start of 2010, which remained dry across the region until early spring when wetter than average conditions prevailed.
Generally, precipitation in Montana started off well in October 2011, predominately in the form of rain, yielding to drier conditions in November and even drier during December. Still, not all is lost, Domonkos said.
“In order to recover from the current snowpack deficit, winter precipitation would need to be near 120 percent of average prior to spring runoff,” he said.
Stream flow prospects are slightly more optimistic with more than half of the snowpack accumulation season remaining. Domonkos, though, said that stream flow forecasts are projected to be below average and, thus, water managers need to pay particular attention to their local area and plan for possible low flows in the event that mountain precipitation continues to be poor.

http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/news/environment/article_d2a994f6-3a85-11e1-897f-0019bb2963f4.html