Snowpack not looking very good :(

[Wrench]

We're not doing any maintenance that holds the river down this year.....that tells a story.

 

[.204smokechaser]

Here’s the North Fork Clearwater this afternoon. Guess there’s really not a reason to plow this year.

 

[mtwarden]

^ that doesn’t look good

 

[.204smokechaser]

^ that doesn’t look good

Nope spring is early. It is usually end of April before this part of the north fork is accessible and that is with opening the road up! A blade hasn’t even been put down yet up there and I only had to walk my TW-200 a total of 100 feet through snow.

 

[IDVortex]

Probably last good chance for snow up in the higher elevations this weekend.

 

[mtwarden]

Probably last good chance for snow up in the higher elevations this weekend.

same here

We went snowshoeing yesterday w/ plans of snowshoeing ~ 4 miles, eating lunch and returning—we ended up on spikes for two miles before having to don snowshoes, not good.

We got a half inch of rain this morning, hoping it's snow in the mountains!

 

[IDVortex]

same here

We went snowshoeing yesterday w/ plans of snowshoeing ~ 4 miles, eating lunch and returning—we ended up on spikes for two miles before having to don snowshoes, not good.

We got a half inch of rain this morning, hoping it's snow in the mountains!

I never went snowshoeing this winter, only times I could've it was raining.

 

[Pony Soldier]

The snow is melting fairly fast but there is still snowpack above 7000. The groundwater is higher than it has been in 5 years. All my ponds are full for the first time in 5 years. All are discharging steadily with streams 2" by 2ft. My fields have whitecaps in the plow furrows. There is snow forecast this week.

 

[Gotcha_]

Can anyone please help a FNG understand how snow pack impacts hunting? Less snow -> less plant growth -> shorter melt period -> less forage for animals -> worse calving period?

 

[NRA4LIFE]

Just got the "emergency" warning about poor snow pack/ reservoir water levels here in Western WA. Same as previous years. I don't know how to interpret this. I am hydrology challenged.

 

[Pacific_Fork]

Can anyone please help a FNG understand how snow pack impacts hunting? Less snow -> less plant growth -> shorter melt period -> less forage for animals -> worse calving period?

I’m no expert so take my interpretation of listing to biologist over the years with a grain of salt. Long term droughts are usually harder on fecundity rates than a bad winter. We’ve had a few bad winters in the last 4-5 years. This mild winter with lower than average snowfall isn’t as concerning to me as another hard winter or consecutive drought years. If there’s little spring/summer rain storms there could be negative impacts on the length of summer feed and also winter feed grounds. We will see but so far I’m optimistic.

 

[mtwarden]

We went from ~ 70% of normal to 50% of normal in about two weeks- well above normal temps (three consecutive days of breaking record highs).

It's obvious you can lose snowpack a lot easier then gaining it.

We did get a little skiff of snow last night in town, hoping the higher elevations did better.

 

[IDVortex]

Let's hope for at least a somewhat wet spring.

 

[mtwarden]

Let's hope for at least a somewhat wet spring.

A big +1

 

[CorbLand]

Rained all day yesterday and this morning so far here. Snowing up high. We are looking good so far.

 

[Elk97]

I heard parts of SW MT got some snow last night 3-9"

 

[mtwarden]

I heard parts of SW MT got some snow last night 3-9"

Red Lodge area got a little over 2 feet! I think our local mountains probably 6” or so. Better than a kick in the a$$.

 

[jags]

Red Lodge area got a little over 2 feet! I think our local mountains probably 6” or so. Better than a kick in the a$$.

And of course the ski mountain just closed up on Sunday.

 

[Dos Perros]

I’m no expert so take my interpretation of listing to biologist over the years with a grain of salt. Long term droughts are usually harder on fecundity rates than a bad winter. We’ve had a few bad winters in the last 4-5 years. This mild winter with lower than average snowfall isn’t as concerning to me as another hard winter or consecutive drought years. If there’s little spring/summer rain storms there could be negative impacts on the length of summer feed and also winter feed grounds. We will see but so far I’m optimistic.

And probably, if there have been hard winters, the herd is below the habitat's carrying capacity. If the range doesn't make as much feed this year then it may not be impactful at all.

 

[mtwarden]

This last storm moved the needle for us +3%, better than the other way. Incredibly the Bear Paws were at 0% the other day and now at 83%!