Well, NOAA is pretty much spot on so far for the first week of their latest 8-14 day forecast. Still cold, still freakin’ snowing. Everybody has had it with winter around here.
I suspect that curtains are probably being shredded at an accelerated rate now and those sounds coming from the “man caves” are not little animal sounds, not little rodents that happened upon a warm spot under the floor boards where the wood stove sits and have begun digging their way out. These are sounds that one would expect to hear from a bear waking up from being hit by an overfilled tranquilizer dart.
For the last few weeks some of the drainages have been hovering anemically in the 90 percentile; what a difference some late storms and cooler temperatures can make. It is looking more and more like the late season rally of last year but alas we could be looking at a pivot point, the weather forecast is calling for sun and a short string of days in the 50’s starting Sunday. A veritable heat wave. Dig out the T-shirts and shorts!
MONTANA SNOTEL Snow Water Equivalent Update Graph
As of FRIDAY: APRIL 3 , 2009
| Basin | Snow Water Equivalent Percent of Average |
| KOOTENAI RIVER BASIN |  96% |
| FLATHEAD RIVER BASIN | 96% |
| UPPER CLARK FORK RIVER BASIN | 110% |
| BITTERROOT RIVER BASIN | 106% |
| LOWER CLARK FORK RIVER BASIN | 101% |
| JEFFERSON RIVER BASIN | 108% |
| MADISON RIVER BASIN | 102% |
| GALLATIN RIVER BASIN | 106% |
| MISSOURI HEADWATERS | 105% |
| HEADWATERS MISSOURI MAINSTEM |  116% |
| SMITH, JUDITH, AND MUSSELSHELL RIVER BASINS | 112% |
| SUN, TETON AND MARIAS RIVER BASINS | 93% |
| MISSOURI MAINSTEM RIVER BASIN | 105% |
| ST MARY AND MILK RIVER BASINS |  85% |
| UPPER YELLOWSTONE RIVER BASIN | 109% |
| WIND RIVER BASIN (WYOMING) | 96% |
| SHOSHONE RIVER BASIN (WYOMING) | 100% |
| BIGHORN RIVER BASIN (WYOMING) | 104% |
| TONGUE RIVER BASIN (WYOMING) | 108% |
| POWDER RIVER BASIN (WYOMING) | 120% |
| LOWER YELLOWSTONE RIVER BASIN | 102% |
| Legend: |  <70% |
70-90% |
91-110% |
111-130% |
 >130% |
* = Data are not available or data may not provide a valid measure
of conditions for over half of the sites within the basin.
