KALISPELL - Our warmer weather is melting valley and low-elevation snow across Western Montana which has area river levels rising.
We're seeing below-normal snowpack west of the Continental Divide due to a lack of precipitation this winter and that means snowpack levels have reached their peak.
There was less snow as compared to last year as of Monday, May 1, 2023, but that doesn't mean we won't see any flooding.
Snowpack levels dictate everything from flooding to drought and fire conditions throughout the summer. All of this is dependent on, you guessed it, the weather.
“The snowpack is really important for our water supply. So in Montana, where we have really dry summers, in general, the mountain snowpack is like a giant reservoir that provides us with water well into the summer months when it's not raining a lot,” explained USDA NRCS Water Supply Specialist Eric Larson.
People can monitor precipitation levels, snowpack, and stream flows by checking out the monthly updates on the Montana Snow Survey website through June.
