Regional snowpack nearing, exceeding normal levels

Bouts of heavy snowfall through Tuesday helped still-lagging mountain snowpack in the region draw nearer to normal.

Following above average December snowfall elsewhere, snowpack in the region’s northern and western reaches — atop the Cabinet, Purcell, Whitefish and Livingston ranges — has so far surpassed normal snowpack values, according to the National Water and Climate Center.

Peak snows yet to come, meanwhile, are expected to bolster the near-normal amounts in reaches farther south and to the east, said Montana Snow Survey hydrologist Eric Larson.

“The snowpack in Northwest Montana generally peaks in April,” Larson, based in Bozeman, said. “So it’s still a tad early to know.”

“But above average moisture would be welcome in my opinion,” he added, “particularly to make up for the below normal precipitation Northwest Montana received [during] the last water year.”

To the east, snowpack Tuesday at Noisy Basin, elevation 6,040 feet, measured just shy of 6 feet deep, according to water and climate center data.

Snowpack to the north in Glacier National Park at Flattop Mountain, elevation 6,300 feet, measured about 7 feet deep, according to the center’s data.

Both areas lie within the Flathead Basin, where snowpack overall sat Tuesday at 99% of normal, according to snow-water equivalent data provided by the center.

The National Weather Service extended a winter weather advisory through early Wednesday for much of the area, where initial forecasts called for less than half a foot of new snow at lower elevations.

West into the Cabinets, snowpack at Poorman Creek, elevation 5,100 feet, measured roughly 6 feet deep on Tuesday, according to the center’s data.

Northeast of Libby, at Banfield Mountain, snowpack at elevation 5,600 feet measured roughly 3.6 feet deep.

Both areas lie within the Kootenai Basin, where snowpack has so far reached 106% of normal, according to snow-water equivalent data for the basin.

Avalanche watches remained in place Tuesday throughout the area, with winter weather advisories in place farther south.

There, in the Lower Clark Fork Basin on Tuesday, the snowpack sat at 103% of normal, according to the center’s data.

Reporter John McLaughlin can be reached at 758-4439 or jmclaughlin@dailyinterlake.com