[Cdt-l] Cdt-l Digest, Vol 9, Issue 10

[Jeff Braun]

At 11:16 PM 6/11/2008, you wrote:
>Weather in Montana (in the spring at least) seems to change 
>rapidly.  Obviously, one visit and hike through there does not make 
>me any kind of expert.....just my take on it.  I wouldn't be too 
>discouraged, though, even if it is snowy now.  You could always try 
>and turn around, or wait around in E Glacier or tour the park a few days.

This spring has been unusually cool in Montana with numerous storms, 
except for some near record high temperatures in mid May. The storm 
this week had snow falling even at lower elevations (we had ~3" in 
Butte). What melted at higher elevations in mid May has been 
replenished. Badger Pass snow base increased in the last week from 
74" to 113" (from 40" to 47" SWE). I figure close to 5 feet of snow 
has fallen there in the last week. The average SWE for June 15th at 
Badger Pass is 11", but in 2002 there was also a mid June storm that 
brought the SWE to over 40", which is very similar to this year. The 
snowpack melted rapidly after that -

http://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/cgibin/wygraph-multi.pl?wateryear=2002&state=MT&stationidname=13a15s-BADGER+PASS

Normal temperatures and dryer conditions are expected to return 
starting tomorrow.

Jeff