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January 1, 2011 Snowpack Above Average

January 6, 2011

For More Information:
Scott Oviatt, 406-587-6844

Bozeman--The USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service has announced that, state-wide, the January 1, 2011, snowpack is 12 percent above average and 46 percent greater than January 1, 2010. State-wide mountain snowpack was above average and well above last year. January 1 represents about 45 percent of the expected seasonal snowfall, so more than half of the snowfall season remains. November and December precipitation has led to January 1 snowpack to be above average and streamflow prospects for the spring and summer to be near average.

Mountain snow water content state-wide was 112 percent of average and 146 percent of last year. West of the Continental Divide mountain snow water content was 106 percent of average and 142 percent of last year. East of the Continental Divide mountain snow water content was 112 percent of average and 139 percent of last year.

Snow Water Content
River Basin Percent of Average Percent of Last Year
Columbia 106 142
Kootenai 101 129
Flathead 111 144
Upper Clark Fork 110 141
Bitterroot 94 153
Lower Clark Fork 112 177
Missouri 113 138
Missouri Headwaters 117 154
-- Jefferson 110 137
-- Madison 121 168
-- Gallatin 116 151
Missouri Mainstem 108 113
-- Headwaters Mainstem 106 105
-- Smith-Judith-Musselshell 117 108
-- Sun-Teton-Marias 90 114
-- Milk (Bearpaw Mtns) 134 283
St. Mary 94 99
St. Mary & Milk 103 120
Yellowstone 114 145
Upper Yellowstone 121 156
Lower Yellowstone 107 141
State-Wide 112 146

If you encounter any problems with the files provided on this page, please contact Scott.Oviatt at 406-587-6844.

See the following text document for detailed basin snowpack information:

Basin-Wide Snowpack Summary (TXT; 64 KB)

As of January 1, Montana streamflows are forecast to average 101 percent, for the period April 1 through July 31. West of the Continental Divide, January 1 streamflows were forecast to average 104 percent. East of the Continental Divide, January 1 streamflows are forecast to average 99 percent.

Below are the River Basin streamflow forecasts for the period April 1 through July 31. These forecasts assume near normal moisture and runoff conditions January through July.

Streamflow Forecasts
River Basin April to July this Year Percent of Average April to July Last Year Percent of Average
Columbia 104 73
-- Kootenai 94 86
-- Flathead 116 80
-- Upper Clark Fork 99 72
-- Bitterroot 95 65
-- Lower Clark Fork 99 72
Missouri 99 67
-- Jefferson 106 56
-- Madison 111 70
-- Gallatin 100 79
-- Missouri Mainstem 103 69
-- Smith-Judith-Musselshell 97 75
-- Sun-Teton-Marias 82 68
-- Milk 112 66
St. Mary 98 88
Yellowstone 97 66
-- Upper Yellowstone 107 73
-- Lower Yellowstone 86 56
State-Wide 101 71

NOTE: The "April-July Last Year Percent of Average" column above is what was forecast last year, NOT what actually occurred.

See the following text document for detailed basin streamflow forecast information:

Provisional Water Supply Forecasts (TXT; 24 KB)

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