Sking where the boat floats in the summer- that's irony.
Not even a week ago I was sniveling about the balmy conditions. Mud, slush and slop. Well, it took about 24 hours starting Monday to go from 45°F to 0° by Tuesday am and to continue its decent to an arctic -17° last night. Right before going over the temperture cliff we got a pretty good shot of snow, enough to pull the Flathead Basin into the 90% for the year. I guess I can put away the galoshes and put on the crampons again.
Things haven’t moved much elsewhere for the week. Roy Kaiser, Water Supply Specialist at NRCS Montana isn’t hitting the panic buttons yet even though we are at the 40% mark for potential snow fall.
MONTANA SNOTEL Snow Water Equivalent Update Graph
As of THURSDAY: JANUARY 7 , 2010
| Basin | Snow Water Equivalent Percent of Average |
| KOOTENAI RIVER BASIN |  83% |
| FLATHEAD RIVER BASIN |  91% |
| UPPER CLARK FORK RIVER BASIN | 88% |
| BITTERROOT RIVER BASIN |  65% |
| LOWER CLARK FORK RIVER BASIN | 68% |
| JEFFERSON RIVER BASIN | 84% |
| MADISON RIVER BASIN | 78% |
| GALLATIN RIVER BASIN | 89% |
| MISSOURI HEADWATERS | 82% |
| HEADWATERS MISSOURI MAINSTEM | 102% |
| SMITH, JUDITH, AND MUSSELSHELL RIVER BASINS |  115% |
| SUN, TETON AND MARIAS RIVER BASINS | 83% |
| MISSOURI MAINSTEM RIVER BASIN | 98% |
| ST MARY AND MILK RIVER BASINS | 93% |
| UPPER YELLOWSTONE RIVER BASIN | 82% |
| WIND RIVER BASIN (WYOMING) | 76% |
| SHOSHONE RIVER BASIN (WYOMING) | 71% |
| BIGHORN RIVER BASIN (WYOMING) | 74% |
| TONGUE RIVER BASIN (WYOMING) | 85% |
| POWDER RIVER BASIN (WYOMING) | 85% |
| LOWER YELLOWSTONE RIVER BASIN | 77% |
| 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.
Fins cutting through crystalline water...
It’s a sick fantasy, imagining my ski tips as the toothy snouts or dorsal fins of pike cutting through the crystalline waters (snowflakes) at near the speed of light as they intercept my imaginary popper that bobs ahead in the snow.
The only consolation is that five months earlier this was no fantasy, those lightning strikes were real!
