Record-low snowpacks endure despite midwinter storms

Mid-January and early February storms brought some much-needed snow to the region, but a third of Montana’s basins continued to post record-low snowpacks as of Feb. 7, a situation likely to produce low summer streamflows and uncomfortably dry forests heading into fire season.

The deficit is most pronounced east of the Continental Divide, according to data from the Natural Resources Conservation Service. The Sun-Teton-Marias, Upper Missouri, Gallatin, Upper Yellowstone and Powder basins all saw lower-than-average precipitation during the month of January and snowpacks in those basins remai...