Open! ...mostly...

Normally heralded as the first chance to get into Old Faithful and Canyon, just after opening this year we find out the road south of Canyon has washed out. Again. Does it happen every year? Pretty much. Is it the same area of road? Pretty much. {Sigh} ---------------------------------------------------- YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK NEWS RELEASE ---------------------------------------------------- Washout Prompts Temporary Closure Of Road South Of Canyon Junction Just hours after opening for auto travel for the summer season, a section of road in Yellowstone National Park has been temporarily closed because the roadbed has given way. A basketball-sized hole was discovered Friday afternoon in a section of Yellowstone’s Grand Loop road south of Canyon Junction. Upon further inspection, park staff members discovered a large section of the roadbed beneath the pavement has washed out. Visitors can take in views of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone by traveling on the North Rim Drive. However, viewing locations along the South Rim Drive such as Artist Point won’t be accessible until road repairs are completed. There is no estimate on the scope of the necessary repairs of the length of the temporary closure of this section of road. After being closed to automobiles all winter, Friday morning some interior park roads opened to motorists for the start of the busy tourist season. Visitors may enter Yellowstone through the park’s North Entrance at Gardiner, Montana, and West Entrance at West Yellowstone, Montana, to Norris, Madison, Canyon and Old Faithful. The road from Gardiner, Montana, through Mammoth Hot Springs and Tower Junction to Cooke City, Montana, is open all year. The road south of the Canyon area to Fishing Bridge and the East Entrance is not scheduled to open for the season until May 4. The park’s South Entrance to West Thumb, Old Faithful, and Lake Village is scheduled to open on May 11. Information on park road conditions is available 24 hours a day by calling the park’s road information hotline at 307-344-2117. - www.nps.gov/yell -

http://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/roadclosures.htm

encounter at farpoint

One good thingthe only good thing about being stuck in bed for another fun-filled day of enjoying the flu? Star Trek TNG marathon. Yep. I am a super dork.

BLM Wild Horse "gather" to happen this summer

http://www.lovellchronicle.com/2012/04/blm-wild-horse-gather-expected-this-summer/

We stopped calling them "round-ups" apparently. Got to be PC about this...


BLM wild horse gather expected this summer
BY CHRONICLE2 · APRIL 12, 2012 · NO COMMENTS
NEWS · TAGGED: GOVERNMENT, THE FUTURE, TOWN
The Bureau of Land Management has released its final Environmental Assessment (EA) for a 2012 non-helicopter gather of wild horses within the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range. The report analyzes the effects of a non-helicopter gather to remove excess wild horses within the wild horse range. The BLM field office received about 1,000 individual comment letters and 63 unique comments on the preliminary EA, and considered those in making the final decision to remove the excess number of horses from the herd.


One of the wild horses from the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range grazing near the entrance to the range last winter. Wild horse advocates have named this young stallion Jesse James. He is the little brother of Kapitan, one of the stallions who was killed tragically on the highway last summer. Patti Carpenter photo
Methods used to remove the horses will include bait trapping, water trapping, herding or a combination of these techniques. Only horses under 3 years old will be targeted for removal. Consideration will be given to genetic factors that could impact the overall well being of the herd. None of the horses gathered will be intentionally harmed or sold to slaughter. The gather is expected to begin sometime after June and will take place over a period of time in a variety of locations within the wild horse range.

“Obviously, there are a lot of feelings that emerge about such an action. Gathers are always difficult. This especially holds true here, in the Pryors, when we get to know individual horses as well as friends,” wrote wild horse advocate Matt Dillon on his blog the day the report was released.

Dillon is the former director of the Pryor Mountain Wild Mustang Center in Lovell. The group monitors the humane treatment of the horses and maintains a meticulous record of their gene pool. Some evidence indicates that this particular herd maintains a fairly pure bloodline that dates back to the horses of early Spanish conquistadors. Dillon and other wild horse aficionados support the preservation of this bloodline.

According to a recent Bureau of Land Management census, 150 adult horses and 17 of their foals currently live on the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range. Based on previous research conducted by the BLM, this is at least 30 horses more than ideal number or AML (Appropriate Management Level) to support both a healthy range and a healthy herd, which according to BLM studies is 90-120 adult horses, excluding the foals. According to information released by the BLM up to 50 horses may be removed in the upcoming gather in an effort to maintain an optimal herd size.

“I think it is important for management decisions to be based on science,” said Dillon. “The current AML is based on a scientific method of determining the carrying capacity of the range, and so it is difficult to argue with it. Obviously, we’d like to see more horses out there. I think we will see an increase in AML in the future that reflects all of the work being done on the range.”

According to information released by the BLM, the proposed gather is necessary to achieve a thriving natural ecological balance and maintain multiple use relationships, including a variety of resources and uses, such as wildlife, wilderness values, recreation, cultural values, as well as wild horses on the range over the next several years. Vegetation monitoring data shows the PMWHR does not have the capacity to sustain the current wild horse population over the long term with their current use patterns on healthy rangelands.

The BLM does not sell any horses to slaughterhouses or so-called “killer buyers.” Any excess wild horses will be offered for adoption only to qualified BLM-approved adopters. Before the adoption, the horses will be examined by veterinarians, freeze-marked and vaccinated. Due to the nature of this gather, the adoptions could be carried out as several small events or one large event, depending on the gather efficacy. Adoption will be announced as the gather progresses and the public will be notified at least two to three weeks prior to the adoptions.

The BLM is charged with the task of maintaining both the range and a healthy herd under the “The Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971.” Although not afforded the protections of “wildlife,” the horses are afforded certain protections under the law.

In an effort to reduce the number of gathers required in the future, the BLM has implemented a program of fertility control where certain mares are selected based on genetic factors to receive an annual birth control shot. The shot is administered by dart.

“I believe that this gather is a significant step toward a time when the removal of so many as 20 horses could be a rare event, a time when such a gather would be a rare event,” commented Dillon on his blog. “Again, though, this is a very delicate time. The lack of a gather this year would certainly lead to a larger one next year. To carry out such an action would be a serious setback to the hard work that has been done and the progress that has been made these past few years. I have great faith that this year’s gather plan reflects careful planning and that operations will be carried out safely and responsibly so that removed individuals and the herd’s future success are impacted as little as possible. Let us get through this year, and let us keep working toward a time when our goals can be realized.”

Many wild horse advocates like Dillon and the BLM hope that comprehensive fertility programs that are now in place, which administer a birth control shot periodically to carefully selected mares, will reduce the need for gathers in the future.

A 30-day appeal period to the decision is already in progress and will end on May 3, 2012. For more detailed information about the gather and a summary of public comments and a copy of the decision record go to http://blm.gov/08jd.

By Patti Carpenter

3 down, 1 to go

Our entire class passed NREMT Practical exams on Saturday. Once the authorization goes through, we can sign up for the NREMT written in Bozeman. I would like to get it over with ASAP so I can forget a lot of the things we were taught, and start learning the "right" way to do them according to our local protocols! Since I'm planning to stick with volunteering for Gardiner I'm looking forward to learning 2 sets of protocols...

"Yellowstone" Bison, the continuing saga

I'm liking the way this guy writes:
http://www.nationalparkstraveler.com/2012/04/view-overlook-montana-wowsers9720

Yes, these bison were from a Yellowstone herd, but they've been living for YEARS inside a fence, under the control of the State of Montana. I wouldn't consider them "Yellowstone" bison anymore - they emigrated (or were forcibly removed to a relocation camp, depending on your view...)

It was too soon to be thinking "spring"

Yes, days are getting longer. Yes, it was in the 60's a couple days ago.
But it snowed last night.
And it was snowing this morning.
It's March in Yellowstone, for chrissake, what was I expecting?

Thank you lord, for thinkin' 'bout me, I'm alive and doing fine

That pretty much says it all.
For now.

Re-taking the SAT's - why would you do this?

Why would one inflict this upon themselves? Really?

http://deadspin.com/5893189/what-happens-when-a-35+year+old-man-retakes-the-sat

On a side note, I once read standardized test essays. As a job. They were in 5th grade. And they all had to write about pirates.

Truer words...

"I attended Harvard University summer school, maintaining a B average. By then I had come face to face with the painful realities of knowledge. One who understands is freer in the head but sadder in the heart. It is sad to know that there is so much wrong in our world, and for the most part we are helpless to do anything about it."


Tepilit Ole Saitoti, in "The Worlds of a Maasai Warrior, an Autobiography"

Blue People

Lots of press lately, the studies are interesting to read.
Methemoglobinemia

http://gma.yahoo.com/blue-people-look-genetic-connection-kentucky-fugates-221813041--abc-news.html

http://www.indiana.edu/~oso/lessons/Blues/TheBlues.htm

Who knew?

Most of the time, it does not feel like a laid-back career.
and an average salary of $80k? Must not be looking at government jobs.

http://education.yahoo.net/articles/5_laid-back_careers.htm?kid=1I10C


Laid-Back Career #4 - Geographic Information Systems Analyst


If you're good at reading maps and navigating the road, you might want to consider a career as a geographic information systems analyst. These analysts gather and present geographic data used to inform higher-ups about issues from improving local traffic flow to evacuating major cities.

Laid-back feature: Although this job could potentially be high-stress - it isn't an everyday norm. A typical low-stress assignment might include suggesting ideal locations for stores or forecasting flood zones, notes the survey.

Education: A bachelor's degree in statistics, geography, or a related field is typically required for this career.

Potential earnings: The average annual salary for this position is $79,370.

Start Your Education. Find the Right School Now.

A sigh of relief

I love dogs. Dogs are awesome.

So when I started looking for a dog a few years back, I couldn't help but fall in love with Hunter-Eddie. Half English bulldog, half Jack Russel terrier, he's an enigma.
(I describe his personality as half cat, half throw rug, but I digress).
Eddie was my oldest nephew's dog but the Louisiana humidity did not agree with his wrinkly skin. So he made the move back north.
First vet appointment found joints eaten with arthritis. Surgery and medication and that issue is something he can live with. Skin problems? He's on thyroid replacement.

Then last weekend I noticed he wasn't eating. Or rather he was trying to eat but food kept falling out of his mouth. Looked like it hurt to chew. "Dang, bad tooth," I thought. So off to the vet Monday.

Diagnosis? Masticatory muscle myositis. An auto-immune disease. Basically his immune system is attacking the muscles in his head, causing them to atrophy. "Have you noticed his head looking more sunken lately?" I had. I thought it was the weight loss, but the muscles around his eyes and behind his ears were wasting away. Intense pain is the result. Damn.

So off the pain pills for his arthritis, on to steroids and antibiotics. If he doesn't respond well, the disease has reached a chronic stage and he will get no better. Waited all week. Delivered pills on the dot (wrapped in cheese, his favorite). Steeped his kibble in warm broth so he could eat with less pain. And waited. I didn't see much, other than an increased thirst and urination rate due to the steroids. I haven't slept well this week.

We got back to the vet today. He wants to do blood work and another exam. We wait some more. He's hopefully optimistic. Blood work is clear, and it looks like he's responding to the medication.

All week I was on the verge of tears. I haven't had to put a dog down. All my dogs have died before I needed to make a decision. I thought a lot about it this week. How long to let him live, what would I do without that stupid bulldog following me around all the time. What a pain in the ass he is, and how much I love him.

For now, though, I can procrastinate that decision and just make sure he's happy.

Today was a very good day.

A social experiment...

"In Washington DC , at a Metro Station, on a cold January morning in 2007, a man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, approximately 2000 people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

After about four minutes, a middle-aged man noticed that there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds, and then he hurried on to meet his schedule.

About four minutes later, the violinist received his first dollar. A woman threw money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.

At six minutes, a young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.

At ten minutes, a three-year old boy stopped, but his mother tugged him along hurriedly. The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head the whole time. This action was repeated by several other children, but every parent - without exception - forced their children to move on quickly.

At forty-five minutes: The musician played continuously. Only six people stopped and listened for a short while. About twenty gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace. The man collected a total of $32.

After one hour:
He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed and no one applauded. There was no recognition at all.

No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days before, Joshua Bell sold-out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100 each to sit and listen to him play the same music.

This is a true story. Joshua Bell, playing incognito in the D.C. Metro Station, was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people’s priorities.

This experiment raised several questions:

In a common-place environment, at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty?

If so, do we stop to appreciate it?

Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?

One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this:
If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made…
How many other things are we missing as we rush through life?"

Video : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myq8upzJDJc

Colette is retiring

Home > From ‘bear jams’ to hugging presidents, retiring ranger has seen it all
From ‘bear jams’ to hugging presidents, retiring ranger has seen it all


Enterprise photo by Aaric Bryan
National Park Service Ranger Colette Daigle-Berg stands

in front a grove of aspen trees at the Tower Station, recently.

By Liz Kearney - Enterprise Staff Writer
TOWER, Yellowstone National Park, Wyo. — In a couple of months, Colette Daigle-Berg has to leave a job she loves.
Daigle-Berg, 57, has been a law enforcement ranger at various national parks, including Yellowstone, since 1979. She’s been the year-round supervisory park ranger at Tower, located in the park’s northeast, since 1989.
But federal law dictates that law enforcement rangers face mandatory retirement at age 57, no matter their vigor or fitness level.
Daigle-Berg, fit and trim in her Park Service uniform, says age is just a number these days.
“Some 30-year-olds are not in shape,” she said in an interview at her Tower office earlier this month.
And some 57-year-olds, like Daigle-Berg, still run a seven-minute mile.

The highlights
In her 30-plus years in the Park Service, Daigle-Berg can cite a lot of highlights — the fires of 1988, the reintroduction of wolves in 1995 and receiving a hug from President Jimmy Carter.
“He asked if it was okay to hug a ranger,” Daigle-Berg, recalled, laughing. “I said it was.”
In 1988 — the year of the Yellowstone Park fires — she was stationed at Grant Village, in the southern part of the park near the West Thumb of Yellowstone Lake. The fires burned for weeks in the area, necessitating nearly daily temporary road closures.
She said she spent a lot of time telling visitors about the closures. She had learned throughout the summer that the fires cooled off overnight and became more active in the afternoon, often necessitating temporary road closures. She learned that if she gave people enough information to make their own decisions, they were happier about dealing with inconveniences.
She said her goal earlier in the fire season was to give people the information they needed. Later, when the fires were more intense and she just needed people to leave the area, she changed her goal to keeping people safe.
In 1995, she stood outside her Park Service housing and watched the “entourage” reintroducing wolves to Yellowstone drive by on their way toward Lamar Valley.
The following year, she got to help carry a crated wolf to the Soda Butte pen site.
“When I got home, the dogs sniffed me all up and down,” she laughed.

The ‘Bear-muda Triangle’
Daigle-Berg credits a seasonal volunteer with coining the phrase, “the Bear-muda Triangle,” to describe the Tower area.
Each Yellowstone ranger district has its “signature workload,” Daigle-Berg explained. At Old Faithful, for example, the rangers do a lot of “medicals” due to the large number of elderly visitors who arrive on bus tours.
At Tower, the signature workload is “bear jams” caused by tourists piling up to observe bears. From May through July, bears forage for food along the roadside in the area. It’s a dangerous place for bear jams because the roads are narrow and full of curves, with few pullouts and narrow shoulders.
“My first priority is keeping people and bears safe,” Daigle-Berg said.
There’s always a Tower black bear, usually a sow with cubs, who comes to be called “Rosie,” after the nearby Roosevelt Lodge. Daigle-Berg said there’s been a “Rosie” since the 1940s.
Over the years, Daigle-Berg and her staff have come to learn the bears’ habits. They know where the bears are going to show up and when. They are often able to pre-empt the worst bear jams by getting out on patrol before the bears are out.
Daigle-Berg said park bear biologists explained why more bears are visible along the Tower roads these days.
The bear population is up, and bears are territorial. The larger, more assertive bears stake their claims on the desirable feeding grounds away from the roads. The younger, smaller and less dominant bears get pushed into less desirable feeding areas, such as along roadsides.
Then, when a massive bear jam breaks out, people get excited about seeing the bears. People who hop out of their cars and get too close to the bears don’t understand that what they are doing is harmful, she said.
She explains to visitors that when bears are pushed away from the roadside, they are “pushing them into the bigger bears.”
And the proof this theory is accurate is that, come July, when the whitebark pine cone seeds — an important food source for bears — are ripe in the high country, the larger bears head up in elevation. Then the roadside bears move into the recently vacated turfs, away from the roads and the crowds.

Law enforcement
Daigle-Berg’s job is also about law enforcement. Even though it’s Yellowstone, park rangers are also cops. Daigle-Berg said in all her years of rangering, she can count on one hand the number of times she’s pulled her gun.
“You never know who’s out there,” she said.
And in recent years, a new law was passed allowing individuals to bring firearms into the national parks. And many people do, she said, because they are “terrified” of bears.
But Daigle-Berg, over the years, has learned to defuse potentially stressful incidents by making sure they don’t escalate.
She said one thing she learned — and always taught to her staff — was how to handle a routine traffic stop. You know how the cops always ask, “Do you know why I pulled you over?” Daigle-Berg said she doesn’t do that. She tells the driver right away, “I pulled you over because you have a broken tail light,” for example.
And during one traffic stop, this policy may have saved her life. She recalled pulling a vehicle over for a broken tail light, then called in the license plate to be checked. The information came back that the driver was wanted for several felonies and was considered armed and dangerous. Daigle-Berg called for backup and the rangers were able to arrest him without incident. The felony suspect told her later that he assumed she stopped him for his felonies, and he was preparing to shoot if necessary. Hearing about the broken tail light calmed him down, Daigle-Berg recalled.

Deputy coroner
Another of Daigle-Berg’s duties is that of deputy coroner. With her medical experience — she said she’s more than an EMT, but not a full-fledged paramedic — and law enforcement background, coroner was a natural fit.
“I represent the deceased,” she said.
She’s had to inform families of the death of their loved ones. It’s hard, she said, her eyes tearing up.
In 2010, an Iraq war veteran killed himself on Garnet Hill, a backcountry area not far from Tower. His rental car was reported missing in May. His body was discovered by park researchers working nearby, in July.
Daigle-Berg took a photo of the view from where Peter Kastner, 25, of Oklahoma City, spent his last moments. She sent the photo to his family.

Handling stress
Rangering in Yellowstone in summer, racing from call to call and managing bear jams produce stressful moments. Daigle-Berg said she manages stress by making sure she gets enough sleep. Other rangers exercise, she said.
“My mantra has been eat, sleep, pee, drink — because you never know what’s going to happen next,” she laughed.

What she’ll miss most
Daigle-Berg’s position at Tower, where she is deputy district ranger for Lamar River District, has involved all the possible duties of a Yellowstone ranger. The Tower area rangers are responsible not only for law enforcement but also provide medical assistance in emergencies, fire protection, search and rescue, horse patrol, road patrol, campground patrol and bear jam control.
Daigle-Berg has led her staff — usually 12 to 15 rangers — in training for all these skills. She said what she has enjoyed most is working with the ranger crew, providing the training opportunities for them to master all different skills.
“It was really satisfying,” she said.
Asked what she’d miss the most about her job, Daigle-Berg didn’t hesitate.
“Not working with this talented, tightknit group of people,” she said, adding, “When it hits the fan, we all pull together to get the job done, and I will miss that.”
And there’s another thing she’ll miss.
“The view out my kitchen window,” Daigle-Berg laughed.
She said she’s seen every park animal there is to see on the ridge behind her house at Tower, including bears, wolves and once, even a mountain lion.
“One of the really neat things about living here is hearing the wolves howl.” Daigle-Berg said. “It’s phenomenal.”
And her dogs’ reaction?
“They go ballistic,” she laughed.

The early years
Daigle-Berg’s first job in Yellowstone was with Yellowstone Park Service Stations in 1974. She was one of the first female “pumpers” — the employees who pumped the gas and checked the oil — ever hired. She had pumped gas after school in her hometown of Seattle. She pumped gas during the long lines of gas rationing that occurred during the Arab oil embargo of the early 1970s. She said she learned then that a smile goes a long way in providing customer service.
She found the YPSS application at a job placement office on the campus of the University of Washington. There was a space on the application for a personal statement.
Daigle-Berg thought it might be a good idea to explain why they should hire a woman to pump gas.
“I said if they hired a woman, a woman has to work harder to prove to the men she can do the job, and the men work harder so the women don’t surpass them,” she laughed.
She got the job. She worked several summers at YPSS around the park, including a summer at Lake. The gas station there still stands, but is no longer operational.
“We called it ‘gas with a view,’” Daigle-Berg said.
After attending law enforcement training academy in California, she worked seasonal ranger jobs in Yellowstone, gaining a foothold in the Park Service.
Ironically, she did not meet her husband, Bill Berg, at YPSS, despite his long career there.
Rather, she met him during a winter season at Old Faithful. She was working as a ranger, Bill as a winterkeeper. Bill had heard that Colette offered haircuts. In the remote living of Yellowstone, there’s always someone on site who turns out to be pretty good at cutting hair. Colette joked she charged “one dollar or one drink” to give a haircut.

"And I still cut Bill's hair," she laughed.
She liked Bill because he liked to do the same things she did, like cross-country ski.
“And he’s a genuinely nice person without a hint of ego,” she said.
Throughout their marriage, Bill and Colette have managed separate households — Colette at Tower since 1989, and Bill in Gardiner, where he was a year-round manager with YPSS and later founded CoolWorks, a website that links up seasonal employers with workers.
Colette and Bill will soon be busy consolidating two households into one.
Daigle-Berg isn’t sure what she’s going to do after she hangs up her gun belt for the last time. She hopes to stay “engaged” in some sort of position in Yellowstone.
“It’s been my whole life,” she said.

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An online store to avoid - "The Great Hardware Store" - a serious rant

First of all, I would like to say that I'm a pretty easy person to please. When I get good service, I tip well. I also give good ratings.

This is not one of those times.

I placed an order with The Great Hardware Store http://www.thegreathardwarestore.com/ for a window heating unit on 11 October. I received no communication from them. I called. Left messages. Sent emails. No response.

So I sicked my sister on them (nothing like a lawyer to scare the crap out of someone). By selecting EVERY option on their phone menu, she finally got a call back from a person in the Commercial Sales division. Apparently since that's where most of their business is centered, they do not care about consumers who visit their website. He assured her the heater would ship that week (3 weeks after it was supposed to). So we waited another week. Nothing. Sent another email to their "customer service" email. No response.

Finally frustrated (and freezing in the house) I called and left a message for them to "cancel the f***ing order." (I believe those were my exact words.)

And they did. Quickly. Within an hour the order was off my account. And they got my money refunded in a week. If only their customer service were so speedy...

So we ordered from Northern Tool. Same item, $150 more expensive. I called their customer service to make sure they could figure out the convoluted shipping into the park, and spoke with a live human being within 30 seconds. I told her my story of woe, AND SHE MATCHED THEIR PRICE. Yup, great customer service, shipped when it was supposed to (with tracking info) and they gave us a good price.

Caveat emptor

I will never buy from The "Great" Hardware store again.

Northern Tool has my business. And my respect.

let it...blow?

seems we've had more wind than snow this year

Another fine day of a few inches and 50+ gusts. Yipee!

Now that's more like it!

Hazardous weather condition(s):

Winter Storm Warning
Hazardous Weather Outlook

Today: Snow. High near 16. Wind chill values as low as -15. Windy, with a west southwest wind between 29 and 33 mph, with gusts as high as 50 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. Total daytime snow accumulation of 3 to 5 inches possible.

Tonight: Snow. Low around 8. Wind chill values as low as -15. Windy, with a west southwest wind between 30 and 34 mph, with gusts as high as 50 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New snow accumulation of 3 to 5 inches possible.

Thursday: Snow. High near 25. Wind chill values as low as -15. Windy, with a southwest wind between 26 and 32 mph, with gusts as high as 45 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New snow accumulation of 3 to 7 inches possible.

Thursday Night: Snow. Low around 13. Wind chill values as low as -5. Windy, with a west southwest wind 30 to 33 mph decreasing to between 17 and 20 mph. Winds could gust as high as 47 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New snow accumulation of 3 to 5 inches possible.

Friday: Snow likely. Cloudy, with a high near 25. West southwest wind between 10 and 16 mph, with gusts as high as 23 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New snow accumulation of 2 to 4 inches possible.

Friday Night: Snow likely. Cloudy, with a low around 13. West southwest wind around 15 mph, with gusts as high as 21 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%.

Saturday: Snow likely. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 26. West southwest wind between 10 and 13 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%.

Saturday Night: Snow likely. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 8. Chance of precipitation is 60%.

Sunday: A 50 percent chance of snow. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 21.

Sunday Night: A 50 percent chance of snow. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 3.

Monday: A chance of snow. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 21.

Monday Night: A chance of snow. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 2.

Tuesday: A chance of snow. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 19.

C'mon baby!

Feel like I'm rolling the dice in craps here, but even this looks like a good thing to me.

SNOW DAMN YOU!!!

/cry

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

A tiny bit of good news

Been a few bad weeks. Nice to hear a good story.


Ole's ordeal: Corgi survives 4 days after owner dies in avalanche

Read more: http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/montana/ole-s-ordeal-corgi-survives-days-after-owner-dies-in/article_4e52f6ba-8bd7-5148-acd1-575e43bb9868.html#ixzz1icK8gtb5

Assumed to have died in an avalanche that killed one of his owners on Saturday, an exhausted and hungry Welsh Corgi dog lay down Wednesday by the door of the Cooke City hotel room that the family had occupied four days earlier.
“The family is super excited,” said Mark Staples, of the Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center, which investigated the incident. “It’s one bright spot for them.”
Robert Weinstein, owner of the Alpine Motel at Cooke City, spotted the dog around noon Wednesday.
“I just saw it outside sitting by the room, which is pretty amazing,” he said.
He fed it and began calling around to make sure that the dog was the one he thought it was.
“I wasn’t 100 percent sure because I’d only seen it once or twice,” he said.
The dog, named Ole, was with Dave Gaillard, 44, of Bozeman, who was buried by an avalanche while skiing with his wife, Kerry, on Saturday. They were skiing along Hayden Creek, southeast of town, at an elevation of about 9,200 feet and just below Index Peak.
When the avalanche broke high atop the mountain, most of the snow was funneled into the narrow creek drainage where Gaillard was skiing, filling it 12 to 14 feet deep with tightly packed snow. Kerry Gaillard was on the edge of the avalanche, hanging onto a tree to avoid being swept away.
She told the Bozeman Daily Chronicle that her husband’s last thoughts were for her safety.
“His last words to me were, ‘Retreat to the trees.’ I think he saw what was coming from above, that I did not see. That reflects Dave’s amazing quality — thinking of others,” she said.
Search and rescue personnel saw no sign of Ole at the site, and it was thought he had been buried in the slide. But if Ole was buried, he managed to dig his way out and then walk four miles on stubby legs back to Cooke City in temperatures that dipped into the teens at night.
Cooke City businessman Bill Whittle, who volunteered to drive the dog back to his family on Wednesday, said Ole appeared to be in good condition despite his ordeal.
“It’s a miracle,” Whittle said.
When he first approached, Whittle said, Ole was nervous and scared. But when he called the dog’s name, Ole came right over.
“He was real hungry and thirsty,” Whittle said. “We fed him twice.”
Whittle is a member of the search and rescue crew that helped retrieve Gaillard’s body. He called the area a “bad spot” in difficult terrain.
Ole’s survival and return are all the more amazing because Corgis are not large dogs. They were bred short to avoid being kicked as they herded livestock. On average, males stand a foot and a half tall and weigh around 27 pounds.
“How in the world he made it, I don’t know,” said Kay Whittle, Bill’s wife. “If he could just talk — who knows what he did from the day of the avalanche until today?”
Sidney resident Jody Ray Verhasselt, 46, also died Saturday in an avalanche in the Cooke City area. Verhasselt was snowmobiling on a northeast-facing slope in Fisher Creek north of Cooke.
Kay Whittle said the two New Year’s Eve avalanche deaths took a toll on the small mountain community. Many residents respond in emergencies such as avalanches.
“It’s been real rough,” she said.
“We needed this,” Bill Whittle said of Ole’s survival. “It kind of cheered everyone up.”
Copyright 2012 The Billings Gazette. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Posted in Montana on Thursday, January 5, 2012 12:00 am Updated: 10:40 am. | Tags: Ole The Welsh Corgi, Avalanche, Cooke City, Dave Gaillard, Kerry Gaillard



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