The moisture has been missing a large portion of eastern Montana into the Dakotas, for early June, it is already very, very dry. They are saying rain early this week, I pray they are right, otherwise farmers and ranchers are going to be in bad shape. If these conditions persist there will probably be land closures do to fire hazard come fall, but that is a long ways off and mother nature can change over night.
Pray for rain
- Thread starter MTHusker
- Start date
I suspect that your angst is probably misplaced, it's raining heavily on the west side of the divide right now and they are predicting snow as low as 6000 feet and we've got flood warnings. NOAA is predicting that the precipitation numbers will be above normal for eastern Montana from June through September.
Ummm....you must put a lot more faith in the weather forecaster's then me, they have a hard time predicting two day's in advance here on the highline, let alone next three months. Glasgow just had it's thirteenth driest year on record, and to the east of us is even worse. I will keep praying....
No I don't really trust the experts all that much but I trust the people that cry about the sky falling even less. Basing a guesstimate of weather conditions on a gut reaction to recent weather isn't all that reliable. I'm not sure what year you're referring to or where you got your information but according to the National Weather Service the records show that the Glasgow area was wetter than normal in their 2016 weather summary. While they show that the total snow levels were below normal they also recorded that total precipitation was higher than normal.
During the middle of this past winter a lot of people said that no matter what happened the California drought would take years to overcome - they were wrong. I saw a lot of posts claiming that the winter snows in Montana weren't going to be as deep as normal - they were wrong. Recently I've read a lot of talk about the winter snow kills being worse than normal - I've seen more elk and deer this year than what has been normal around my home area for the past several years (and I live in a fairly rural area for a non-rancher/ farmer). As I sit here typing I'm watching the rain, that started yesterday, continue and they are predicting more rain until at least tomorrow (I do trust their predictions out to 48 hours or so, they are mostly accurate for that short time frame).
In my opinion (based on living in the deserts and mountains of Arizona, Utah, and the plains of Kansas) the weather forecasters are less accurate in the mountainous regions than the flat country and I live just over the divide on the west side. I will admit that out here in the west they seem to be worst at predicting weather on the eastern side of mountain ranges. I get more weather than you guys do but the weather service has been pretty accurate over time for my region. Admittedly they aren't always on the money but I'd say that on a monthly average they are right more than they are wrong.
Last edited:
I do not think you realize how dry it is here in eastern Montana and into the Dakota's. The sky is not falling, neither is the rain...we have not received good moisture the past couple of months, this is when we usually do. To expect to make up moisture amounts in July, August and September is not realistic, looking back on previous years. Could it happen, of course, likely, no. I hope it does. I am not worried about being able to hunt somewhere that may be closed down, I am worried for the folks who depend on the rain for their crops and to feed their cattle. As for 2016, yes, we had moisture, crops and hay ground did well, but that ended 6 months ago, you do not realize how quickly the soil dry's out when temps are in the 80's and 90's and the wind is blowing 20 + mph in this country. Just get in your vehicle and take a little road trip and you can see what I am talking about.
Data doesn't lie, regardless of what anybody thinks or assumes, the fact is that they have recorded more precipitation than you seem to think has occurred. Right now your region is drier than you like and mine is wetter, things happen. I agree that it's obvious that you've had less precipitation than normal and I understand your concern, I'm just saying that I suspect that over the long run things will even out. Farmers and ranchers all know that they will have good years and bad years, I'm not going to loose any sleep over the reality that the climate fluctuates and that people always have to deal with bad times and good times.
AW...thanks, I have seen a drought map online too, the area effected has been getting larger the last few weeks. Really sad here today in Glasgow, the rains that have fallen the last couple days have so far missed us again. On the other hand, the ranch I hunt near Big Timber is doing great, good moisture and nice green grass.
As far as stats.....yes, last year was very good, bumper crops here in the NE part of Montana, but to expect the soil to hold all that moisture is silly. Sorry my post to pray for rain so upset you
As far as stats.....yes, last year was very good, bumper crops here in the NE part of Montana, but to expect the soil to hold all that moisture is silly. Sorry my post to pray for rain so upset you
Last edited:
I'm not the one that is upset, your the one that seems 'silly' and 'upset', if you weren't then why did you even respond with your initial snarky response to my first post. By all means, worry and pray all you want, I wont be loosing any sleep over this conversation or the rains. I guess having been raised in the deserts of Arizona and lived in desert environments has jaundiced my attitude toward worrying about rain, if you really want to see the land dry up go to Yuma, AZ and watch the waters disappear in less than 24 hours after a rain.
Well, just came back from spending some time in south central and sw Montana, wow, looks wonderful, the Pioneers mountains were splendid, watched a bull moose feed one evening for over an hour from our camp....then came home to ne Montana, was praying for rain, but it still has not happened, drought monitor shows it is expanding and getting worse, feel like I am in Yuma, Az.
PlainsHunter
Active Member
Looks like the drought is getting worse. Hope the area starts to get rain, or its going to be really bad
Alabama
Veteran member
Drought sucks. It seems we are either in a drought or have far too much rain here the last 2-3 years. I hope it turns around for y'all soon.
sneakypete
Veteran member
I hear ya Mthusker, we have property in the Denton area of central Mt. I hearing exactly what you're saying about eastern Montana!
scubohuntr
New Member
Lodgepole complex fire burning east of Winnett, over 200,000 acres, largest fire going in the U.S. they said on news last night. I have neighbor who is on rural FD, he has buddy fighting fire dropping sand, water, dirt, says he has never seen one area so burnt.....very sad, worse part is unless August surprises and brings cool rains, things will get worse.
sneakypete
Veteran member
Last week I reiceved a letter from the BLM stating central to eastern Montana in in moderate to severe drought. Especially east of Grassrange! Not to mention the 230,000 acre fire burning in the Jordan area! If you have a 700 antelope tag you may not be hunting on block management or the area may be black!
Againstthewind
Very Active Member
Wow, I am not familiar enough with Montana geography to know where all the fires are, but even Campbell County, wy had six active fires last i looked. Definitely praying for those first week of August rain showers without the lightning. Sure looks like the forest service has been doing a lot more clearing of fuel lately though. Hopefully those efforts help out too.
As I've said, I don't worry about things I can't change. We've had more rain and cooler weather than normal over on the west side of the Divide and the grass is still fairly green around here and yet I've got three wildfires within a 25 or 30 circle around my house, the closest fire was small but it was only about 8 miles from the house - most of them were started by lightning and got out of hand due to the beetle killed trees around here. If it isn't one thing then it's another, that's just life.
I grew up in hot dry country and nobody ever really worried about whether we were having a drought or not, even though the main source of income was agriculture and long term (years at a time) droughts were common. Even now they are saying that the state of Arizona is currently in a 21 year drought and yet not too many people really talk about it because it's pretty normal. I mean think about it, at what point do the experts change what is considered normal? Is Arizona in a 21 year drought or is this the new normal? I suspect that like most things it's all subjective to some degree. Nowadays everybody has been over sensitized toward weather issues. When I lived in Kansas all I ever heard about was tornadoes; when was the last one, where was it, and when the next one was going to hit. Around here all I here about is; who is having a drought, who isn't getting snow, and who isn't getting rain...the same circus but with different monkeys.
I grew up in hot dry country and nobody ever really worried about whether we were having a drought or not, even though the main source of income was agriculture and long term (years at a time) droughts were common. Even now they are saying that the state of Arizona is currently in a 21 year drought and yet not too many people really talk about it because it's pretty normal. I mean think about it, at what point do the experts change what is considered normal? Is Arizona in a 21 year drought or is this the new normal? I suspect that like most things it's all subjective to some degree. Nowadays everybody has been over sensitized toward weather issues. When I lived in Kansas all I ever heard about was tornadoes; when was the last one, where was it, and when the next one was going to hit. Around here all I here about is; who is having a drought, who isn't getting snow, and who isn't getting rain...the same circus but with different monkeys.
sneakypete
Veteran member
Heard good news on the Lodgpole fire complex....over 80% contained today, I was watching radar yesterday morning and looked like they have a nice rain over that area in the morning, far eastern Montana had some decent rain yesterday also.