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April 10th 2010
APRIL 1 SNOWPACK BELOW TO WELL BELOW AVERAGE
April 6, 2010 – Bozeman, Mt. -State-wide mountain snowpack was 65 percent of
average and 65 percent of last year. Columbia River Basin snowpack was 61
percent of average and 62 percent of last year; Missouri River Basin
snowpack was 69 percent of average and 69 percent of last year; and
Yellowstone River Basin was 69 percent of average and 68 percent of last
year. Seasonal snowfall accumulation on April 1 for the Columbia is 96
percent; Missouri is 93 percent; and Yellowstone is 91 percent.
March was the fifth month in a row with below to well below average mountain
precipitation. The storms at the end of March and the first few days of
April gave a boost to the snowpack in all river basins. The storms increased
river basin snow water content values by three to eight percent.
% OF % OF March
RIVER BASIN AVERAGE LAST YEAR % CHANGE
COLUMBIA 61 62 -4
KOOTENAI, MONTANA 62 64 -4
FLATHEAD, MONTANA 65 69 -6
UPPER CLARK FORK 64 60 -1
BITTERROOT 55 52 +3
LOWER CLARK FORK 54 58 -1
MISSOURI 69 69 -5
MISSOURI HEADWATERS 69 68 -2
JEFFERSON 70 68 -2
MADISON 63 65 -1
GALLATIN 73 72 -6
MISSOURI MAINSTEM 72 73 -10
HEADWATERS MAINSTEM 76 70 -2
SMITH-JUDITH-MUSSELSHELL 90 86 -13
SUN-TETON-MARIAS 50 55 -4
BEARPAW MOUNTAINS 71 60 ---
ST. MARY 60 71 -10
ST. MARY & MILK 62 69 ---
YELLOWSTONE 69 68 +1
UPPER YELLOWSTONE 67 63 -2
LOWER YELLOWSTONE 70 72 +5
STATE-WIDE 65 65 -3
For detailed basin snowpack information go to:
ftp://ftp.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/data/snow/basin_reports/montana/wy2010/basnmt4.txt
Streamflows across Montana are forecast to be 58 percent of average.
Columbia River streamflows are forecast to be 58 percent of average; St.
Mary River streamflows are forecast to be 71 percent of average; Missouri
River streamflows are forecast to be 54 percent of average; and Yellowstone
River are forecast to be 61 percent of average.
Very low streamflows are likely to occur this summer, especially for streams
and rivers without reservoir storage. River basins of most concern are the
Bitterroot, Lower Clark Fork, Jefferson, Sun, Teton, and Marias.
Below are averaged streamflow forecasts, by river basin, for the period
April 1 through July 31. THESE FORECASTS ASSUME NEAR NORMAL SPRING
CONDITIONS AND DO NOT ACCOUNT FOR WELL BELOW AVERAGE (70% or less) OR ABOVE
AVERAGE (110% or more) SNOWMELT OR SPRING RAIN. Specific forecast
probabilities are available in each individual River Basin Report on the
Montana NRCS web page.
April-July April-July
THIS YEAR LAST YEAR
RIVER BASIN % OF AVERAGE % OF AVERAGE
COLUMBIA 58 103
KOOTENAI 59 91
FLATHEAD 68 98
UPPER CLARK FORK 56 114
BITTERROOT 48 105
LOWER CLARK FORK 47 101
MISSOURI 54 98
JEFFERSON 46 105
MADISON 62 92
GALLATIN 71 106
MISSOURI MAINSTEM 52 99
SMITH-JUDITH-MUSSELSHELL66 108
SUN-TETON-MARIAS 49 82
MILK 43 99
ST. MARY 71 91
YELLOWSTONE 61 102
UPPER YELLOWSTONE 66 101
LOWER YELLOWSTONE 53 103
STATE-WIDE 58 101
NOTE: The APRIL-JULY LAST YEAR % OF AVERAGE column above is what was
forecast last year on April 1 and NOT what actually occurred.
For detailed basin streamflow forecast information go to: ftp://ftp.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/support/water/provisional_forecasts/montana/mt.txt
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