Yellowstone River Receives Favorable Flow Forecast

Jump to Comments

The Yellowstone River should be running cold, high and more robust than last year when snow starts to melt this spring.

Mountain snowpack that feeds the river that flows out of Yellowstone Park all the way to its confluence with the mighty Missouri stands at 100 percent of average and around 140 percent of last year.

Forecast for April to July, assuming normal moisture, predicts stream flow on the Yellowstone of 89 to 101 percent of normal, said Roy Kaiser, water supply specialist for the Natural Resources Conservation Service in Bozeman.

The Upper Yellowstone has slightly better snowpack at 105 percent of average. Stream flow forecast for that part of the river, from Yellowstone Park to Custer, is for 89 to 106 percent of average. The Lower Yellowstone, the stretch from Custer to the Missouri, has 96 percent of normal snowpack and a stream-flow forecast of 88 to 102 percent of normal.

Stream flow forecasts, based on the amount of snow water in the mountain pack, are released by NRCS on the first of each month as the snow builds in the winter and melts in the spring. Kaiser said that by Feb. 1, 60 to 65 percent of winter snowpack should be in the mountains.

Snowpack in the Yellowstone Basin reaches its peak about the second week in April. It’s usually melted out in the first week or so of July. In the last several years, the snow has disappeared two to three weeks early. Kaiser has hopes for a more normal melt this year.

“It’s been a nice cool year,” he said. “We’ll just have to wait and see.”

From the Billings Gazette

0 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized