Spring storms dump snow on Valley

POLSON — The weekend’s snowstorm was welcome moisture for many in the Valley, with snowpack in the higher elevations of the Mission Mountains reaching average.

The storm is one reason this April is shaping up to the be one of the snowiest on record, according to National Weather Service stats. Sunday’s snow storm brought five-and-a-half inches of snow to Polson, which is more than the entire snowfall in April for the city in the past two years combined. In 2011, Polson only had 1.8 inches of snowfall, and nothing last year, said Robert Nester, senior forecaster and climate program manager at the Missoula office. The last significant snowfall was a mere two-and-a-half inches in 1998, Nester added.

Arlee, however, saw the brunt of Sunday’s snow, with NWS stats putting the total over 24 hours as of Monday morning at eight inches.

“It was a wonderful storm,” said Seth Makepeace, hydrologist for the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes.

Roughly a foot of wet snow settled on Mission peaks, Makepeace said, adding the snowfall brought snowpack conditions in the Flathead basin to 99 percent of average compared to the 92 percent of average snowpack was before.

“And this snow on the Valley floor is pretty good, too, in terms of just soil moisture conditions,” Makepeace said.

Much snowpack at lower elevations already has melted, and Sunday’s snow fell on exposed soil, where it was absorbed into the soil rather than running off like it would have if the soil were frozen, he said.

“That generally is considered a plus,” he said.

“You get more of a sponge effect. Basically, you get a slower release of the water,” he added later.

Spring snow storms have played an increasingly crucial role in snowpack levels the past several years, Makepeace said. Instead of winter storms building snowpack early, spring storms have been making up the difference, he said.

“This has been kind of a pattern we’ve been in,” he said. “We’ve been seeing that for several years now.”

Even though the past two years have had above-normal moisture levels, this much snow during this time of year is unusual, Makepeace added.

Kerr Dam project is expected to be at 2,890 feet by Memorial Day weekend, according to PPL Montana.

In Yellow Bay, Ken Edgington, owner of Bear Dance Orchard, was watching temperatures more than snowfall on Monday.

Low temperatures are more worrisome than snow, Edgington said. While areas off the lake have reported low temps, winds pick up warmth crossing Flathead Lake, causing temps at many orchard areas to be 6 to 8 degrees warmer than off-lake areas, he said.

While Edgington said he couldn’t speak for all cherry growers because of assorted microclimates along the lake, he said he hasn’t seen much damage to buds on his trees.

With cherry buds still tight, temps would have to get down to about 25 degrees to cause much damage, he said. Once the white tips of burgeoning blossoms are visible, the temps become even more important.

“Then it gets a little more critical whether we get extremely low temperatures,” Edgington said.

Temperatures should reach the mid-60s by Friday, with a high of 64 expected. Thursday’s high is expected to come in at 62. The weekend should be slightly cooler, and a chance of rain exists Thursday through Sunday. Plan for overnight lows in the mid- to low-30s.