Is snowmobiling allowed on BearPaw Mountain? (South of Havre)
- Thread starter Mafesto
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volcano buster
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NWCC iMap
nwcc-apps.sc.egov.usda.gov
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While is it 214% above median for this time of year, that median is next to no snow (less that 4"). So 214% of that is the current snow depth of 12" like @562xp said.
https://wcc.sc.egov.usda.gov/report...lue,TMIN::value,TAVG::value?fitToScreen=false
Makes sense.While is it 214% above median for this time of year, that median is next to no snow (less that 4"). So 214% of that is the current snow depth of 12" like @562xp said.
https://wcc.sc.egov.usda.gov/reportGenerator/view/customSingleStationReport/daily/917:MT:SNTL|id=""|name/-29,0/WTEQ::value,WTEQ::median_1991,WTEQ:ctOfMedian_1991,SNWD::value,PREC::value,PREC::median_1991,PREC:
Why in hell do they even report from there if they don't get snow and it's not a usable destination?
You think Snotels were created to inform snowmobilers/snowbikers of snow conditions in our riding areas? That's cute!
Just ribbing you. But backcountry users are not why Snotels exist.
"All SNOTEL sites measure snow water content, accumulated precipitation, and air temperature. Some sites also measure snow depth, soil moisture and temperature, wind speed, solar radiation, humidity, and atmospheric pressure. These data are used to forecast yearly water supplies, predict floods, and for general climate research. "
Installations began in the 1960s. The public started to be able to access data from them in the 1990s and access just got better and better over the years. Motorized and non-motorized backcountry users have access to great data from the Snotels...but they were not created for us so they exist in areas where motorized backcountry users will never go.
I don't see how these are a waste. The equipment is a simple installation and very little ongoing maintenance cost compared to the information they provide. They help predict water supplies so municipalities and farms/ranches, that depend on snowpack runoff for water supply, can plan. They allow forecast of drainage and river/reservoir so dam/reservoir levels can predict and prepare of that season's runoff, avoid flooding that can destroy houses and farmland in low lying-areas and predict flooding in areas not controlled by dams/reservoirs so those areas can prepare ahead of time rather than in emergency situation. Helps make yearly determination on water allocations for municipal water sources, crop irrigation, keeping enough flow rate in streams and rivers for the trout populations we all enjoy to avoid kill off, forecast runoff and erosion risk to the mountain trails and roads we use all summer, etc. Lots more, but you get the idea. And then there are all the side benefits like the public having access to all the data so, like you were doing, we can see where the pow is to help us make decision on where we head throughout the season. That alone is worth the cost in my book! Ha.
Side note: pork barrel is when a large amount of national money benefits only a small, local voting district so some goofball politician gets something for his constituents. Sometimes that can be an OK thing if it's not wasteful spending, but sometimes it is a silly project and waste of money. Either way, they are really doing it so they get the re-election vote. Snotel project isn't pork barrel because it's implemented and used across most of the Western US and Alaska, benefiting a huge national area rather than a single local voting district.
My cynical reply was motivated by my memory of the 2010-2011 winter when the Rockies had huge amounts of snow. All of us know nothing hayseeds talked about how they needed to lower the river levels before that snow melted. They didn't. Missouri river flooded. Bad. Incredibly frustrating!
Having the tech can be good, but we need people in power that have something that resembles a brain to utilize that information.
Having the tech can be good, but we need people in power that have something that resembles a brain to utilize that information.
Yeah, that was a brutal year. 200% snowpack (and a cold spring which delayed the melt) and then 600% above average rainfall as the snowpack finally started the runoff cycle. Double whammy. Not sure about other reservoirs downriver and out your way, but I do recall some criticism of them not releasing more water earlier. But, up here along the Missouri headwaters, we were extremely low, in preparation, but between the snowmelt from the extreme snowpack and the record rainfall that fell right as the snowpack melt started, all our reservoirs filled up in the blink of an eye and so at that point, all the water just headed downriver and quickly overwhelmed everything. That one was devastating from our area all the way down to St. Louis, MO. It was not near as bad as the flood of 1993, when I was stationed by St. Louis and experience that one first hand, but still really bad.
2022 was a bit too exciting here, too, when the Yellowstone River flooded and washed away huge sections of roadway, housed floating down the Yellowstone river, ripped out a bunch of bridges, water out of the banks and flowing through towns, water plants shut down, and the National Park closing and evacuating 10,000 tourists. Same thing on that one where snowmelt started and record rains at the same time, but now reservoirs to buffer that section of river so they didn't stand a chance. It only lasted a few days but the damage was done. Every year's spring runoff permanently changes the personality of the river, but it changed more in those couple days (mostly in a 10 hour period, really) than it had changed in the previous decade.
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