The mud season

[Pony Soldier]

The long awaited mud season is finally peaking its ugly head out. That exciting point where there is 5 ft of snow above the ground and 1-2 ft of liquified soil below that. In the early days I remember a UPS truck stuck to the bumper in my gate. A couple of pickup loads of angular 10" rock solved that event. Now we struggle to manage rocky soup until the frost goes out. Every walk down the drive-way is accompanied with a hoe to channel fugitive water to the frozen ditches on the side.

There are literally hours of entertainment in water management. Just trying to figure out where to direct the water in the barn and digging channels in the corrals to drain the swamp.

I'm on the top of the east side of the divide. Believe me there is lot of water coming your way. I suggest a significant effort be put in to prepare for the floods. When it gets to you, I'll be plowing fields and watching you on tv in the evenings. Good luck!

 

[Hnthrdr]

The long awaited mud season is finally peaking its ugly head out. That exciting point where there is 5 ft of snow above the ground and 1-2 ft of liquified soil below that. In the early days I remember a UPS truck stuck to the bumper in my gate. A couple of pickup loads of angular 10" rock solved that event. Now we struggle to manage rocky soup until the frost goes out. Every walk down the drive-way is accompanied with a hoe to channel fugitive water to the frozen ditches on the side.

There are literally hours of entertainment in water management. Just trying to figure out where to direct the water in the barn and digging channels in the corrals to drain the swamp.

I'm on the top of the east side of the divide. Believe me there is lot of water coming your way. I suggest a significant effort be put in to prepare for the floods. When it gets to you, I'll be plowing fields and watching you on tv in the evenings. Good luck!

Been wondering the same thing… in Co temps may reach 80’s next week so figure 60’s in some parts of the high country… could be an interesting run off for sure

 

[ODB]

The Owyhees are gonna be gumbo till September.

 

[hunterjmj]

A lot of water is going to be hitting the Missouri these next couple weeks here in Montana. Thankfully the drifts in my yard are subsiding.

 

[Dust Rider]

We got a lot of snow up here as well. I enjoy living up on a bluff with positive drainage away from the structors. Also have the backhoe hooked up to the tractor JIC the snow melt is fast and rapid. Was in Butte last week and there is alot of snow up on the divide, and almost none once down in valley bottoms all the way to Bozeman. Got the jet boat ready waiting for the rivers to swell this weekend

 

[Customweld]

A bulletin I got from USACE today.

Snowpack has continued to build in the Boise system, and is currently 156% of normal [nrcs.usda.gov]. With the abnormally cold weather this spring, the low/mid elevation snowpack is quite large for this time of year. Some lower elevation SNOTELS, like Bogus Basin [nrcs.usda.gov] and Prairie [nrcs.usda.gov], are currently setting records for April. More precipitation is expected in the 10-day forecast, which will likely come as rain at lower elevations. Due to the relatively low snow density, larger magnitude runoffs are expected later in April or May. Inflows into the reservoirs are still lower than normal for this time of year.



The USACE + USBR April-July runoff volume forecast is 1,600KAF, which is 129% of average. This new forecast brings the system to within 25KAF of the system’s Flood Risk Management (FRM) targets. The system is currently 64% full, and has started to draft slightly due to FRM and irrigation releases. Lucky Peak reservoir is at an elevation of 2986ft MSL, 69ft from full pool. USACE is estimating 450KAF-550KAF of excess water will need to be passed through the system this season that cannot be accommodated through 1) remaining system storage, 2) irrigation demand, or 3) Boise River minimum flows. With the anticipated late runoff, water may arrive to the system at a higher flow over a shorter time period.

It has the potential to get western if we start getting a bunch of rain on this snow pack.

 

[NRA4LIFE]

Sorry man, my place in Northern Wisconsin has been bad the last couple years in the spring. I hate having to chain up an pull all the other vehicles out.

 

[rayporter]

i am trying to get gravel on the drive now but the trucker is cautious of getting stuck.

 

[49ereric]

slowly made my driveway one pickup load at a time for 20+ years from pit run gravel and kept the 2-3” rocks in the mix. It was a mud fest originally every spring but now it is raised @12-15” higher than the other ground and base holds up the cars every spring without issues.
I always packed snow down before plowing as to keep all the gravel on the driveway as well…

 

[Pony Soldier]

Through life opportunities come up that you just have to take part of. Along the way, I acquired an 1890s horse drawn grader. I modified it to be pulled by my tractor. Every spring as my road starts to firm up and I have added mine development rock to the soft spots, I use the grader to crown the road and smooth the surface. This usually results in what many of you city folks would call a domestic dispute. My wife drives the tractor while I operate the grader. I provide guidance over the sound of the tractor to get her to steer the tractor to compensate for the curves in the road. By the time we finish she is quite good at it but at the beginning its like she has never seen a tractor before. In between there is a lot of yelling.

 

[Pony Soldier]

Saw a sign on a road one time that was very accurate. It said: Pick your ruts carefully. You will be in them for the next 5 miles.

I would think that in eastern Montana that number would quite a bit larger.