HELENA — The much-needed rain that fell across Montana over the weekend is providing some relief to the parched areas of the state.
State officials had issued precautionary drought alerts for six counties in southwestern and southern Montana before the storms hit.
National Weather Service meteorologist Dave Bernhardt says those areas received heavier amounts of precipitation over the weekend and pushed them closer to their normal average rainfall.
He says parts of central Montana that were below normal this spring are now close to normal or above normal after the weekend rain.
The mountain snowpack is below normal for the year but snow in higher elevations may have helped. The federal government’s Natural Resources Conservation Service reports about 10 inches of snow fell in the Beartooth Mountains over the weekend.