NRCS Montana Monthly Water Supply Outlook Report

Variable January Weather Concludes with a General Lack of Snow in Montana

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BOZEMAN, Mont., February 5, 2024 – At the beginning of January more than half of NRCS snow monitoring stations in Montana and surrounding river basins reported their lowest snowpack on record. “Well above normal precipitation was needed to begin a recovery from lack of snow, yet precipitation was mostly below normal across Montana last month,” said Eric Larson, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Water Supply Specialist. The exception was the northern Flathead and Kootenai River basins in Montana where total monthly precipitation was near normal. Other basins west of the Continental Divide received 70-90% of normal precipitation during January. East of the Continental Divide, the southern Rocky Mountain Front, central Montana, and part of southwest Montana received about 60-70% of normal January precipitation. The Gallatin, Upper Yellowstone, Bighorn, Powder, and Tongue River basins received less than 65% of normal January precipitation.

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Natural Resources Conservation Service Montana 10 E Babcock St Rm 443 Bozeman, MT 59715 Phone: 406-587-6811 Fax: 855-510-7028 Web: nrcs.usda.gov/montana State Conservationist Tom Watson