There are a lot of Montana drainage’s that are hovering near the 100% mark. The weather seems to be staying cool and the potential for good snowfall is till in the picture as evidenced by storms that have whipped in on the last two Thursdays.
Here in northwest Montana we have had good storms come through in both of the last two weeks, neither has improved things dramatically but seems to be holding the early melt in check. It has definitely been another cooler winter season, much like last year. We had a lot of late season snow last year so there is still hope of going over the 100% mark again.
The bright spots right now are the Bighorn in Wyoming and the Upper Yellowstone. With some continued precipitation and cooperative water managers in Wyoming the river could be headed for another decent year.
All of Montana’s blue ribbon rivers in the southwest part of the state are hovering near the 100% mark. The next two or three weeks should tell the tale unless we have a cooler spring. The Upper Missouri mainstem which unites most of the southwest rivers is looking good again so if you are planning on fishing the Missouri around Craig there should be plenty of water again. Just don’t plan on a lot of early season wading.
Lake ice is well, thick. Two plus feet is pretty common on most of the smaller lakes in the Kalispell area. Lows in the single digits have been forecast till the middle of next week so its not going anywhere soon.
MONTANA SNOTEL Snow Water Equivalent Update Graph
As of FRIDAY: MARCH 6 , 2009
| Basin | Snow Water Equivalent Percent of Average |
| KOOTENAI RIVER BASIN |  84% |
| FLATHEAD RIVER BASIN | 85% |
| UPPER CLARK FORK RIVER BASIN |  95% |
| BITTERROOT RIVER BASIN | 92% |
| LOWER CLARK FORK RIVER BASIN | 85% |
| JEFFERSON RIVER BASIN | 95% |
| MADISON RIVER BASIN | 90% |
| GALLATIN RIVER BASIN | 96% |
| MISSOURI HEADWATERS | 93% |
| HEADWATERS MISSOURI MAINSTEM | 98% |
| SMITH, JUDITH, AND MUSSELSHELL RIVER BASINS | 96% |
| SUN, TETON AND MARIAS RIVER BASINS | 77% |
| MISSOURI MAINSTEM RIVER BASIN | 89% |
| ST MARY AND MILK RIVER BASINS | 77% |
| UPPER YELLOWSTONE RIVER BASIN | 102% |
| WIND RIVER BASIN (WYOMING) | 82% |
| SHOSHONE RIVER BASIN (WYOMING) | 93% |
| BIGHORN RIVER BASIN (WYOMING) | 100% |
| TONGUE RIVER BASIN (WYOMING) | 104% |
| POWDER RIVER BASIN (WYOMING) |  116% |
| LOWER YELLOWSTONE RIVER BASIN | 94% |
| Legend: |  <70% |
70-90% |
91-110% |
111-130% |
 >130% |
