On the heels of a December, which brought exceptional moisture to the Treasure State, January largely lacked needed precipitation. Monthly Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) SNOTEL site totals across Montana showed that January precipitation was below to near normal. “The first week of the month looked promising. The mountains received at least one to two feet of snow, but westerly flow brought high pressure during the last three weeks in January,” NRCS Hydrologist, Eric Larson said. This made for clear skies, warmer than normal temperatures, and below normal precipitation in most river basins. Exceptions were the northern Whitefish Range and...

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