BILLINGS – The annual winter accumulation of snowpack in Montana’s mountain ranges is off to a slow start.
Federal water supply specialists say 40 percent of the snow year has passed, but the build-up of mountain snow that helps feed rivers and streams in spring and summer is below average in many areas.
Federal water supply specialist Roy Kaiser says snowpack overall in the Yellowstone basin is about 20 percent below normal. In the northwest, the Kootenai basin is about 78 percent of average, while the Bitterroot and Lower Clark Fork are also below normal.
There is some good news.
The Missouri mainstem basin is at 100 percent, and the mountains that water the Smith, Judith and Musselshell rivers are at 119 percent.
Kaiser says one or two good storms could change the outlook.