Mountain precipitation less than stellar

by Jessica Stugelmayer | March 10, 2010 | Montana Kaimin

Professors at the University of Montana would consider a grade of 37 percent equivalent to an ‘F,’ and by these standards, mountain precipitation in Montana would be flunking.

A report released from the Natural Conservation Resource Service on March 4 stated that February is the fourth month in a row with precipitation measurements below the average the region usually receives this time of year.

The area west of the Continental Divide has received 37 percent of typical mountain precipitation that it would get during this time of year. Last year, the region got only 65 percent of the average for the month of February.

Low snowpack in the mountains means not only a less-than-ideal ski season; it could also mean a summer of big fires for Montana, and with the heat wave Missoula experienced over the weekend, some people are concerned about what’s in store.

Forestry student Nick Aschenwald said he isn’t worried about the dip in snowpack because people in forestry have been expecting it for some time. He explained that this low point is just a part of the larger cycle of precipitation in the area.

He said Montana is sitting under a jet stream from California and is receiving warm ocean air, when we usually get cold air from a jet stream that comes down from Canada.

Aschenwald said his concern is that low snowpack in connection with the warmer weather could mean extreme conditions for this summer’s fire season.

“It’s going to be one of the big ones,” Aschenwald said.

Aschenwald said many student firefighters he has talked with are excited for the long season because of the prospective gains for strained bank accounts.

Freshman Kyle Errecart is a 21-year-old student who spent a year in college at North Idaho College before he began his career firefighting for the U.S. Forest Service. 

Errecart has been a firefighter for four years and returned to college to study recreation resource management in the College of Forestry at UM.

He said that although the levels of snowpack are relatively low, they don’t play a huge role unless they are combined with poor precipitation levels in the spring.

Errecart explained the difference between 1-, 10-, 100- and 1,000-hour fuels. Vegetation is categorized by how long it takes to dry when completely saturated. He said a pine needle, for example, would be considered a 1-hour fuel that takes one hour to dry out before it is able to burn.

It’s the 1,000-hour fuels that are most affected by snowpack because they can hold a lot more moisture, Errecart said. These fuels can also burn longer and are harder to put out.
With warmer weather and lower snowpack, these fuels dry out earlier and become available to burn in May, though Montana doesn’t usually burn until July.

Errecart isn’t convinced that this season is going to be as bad as most people are expecting.

“Warm weather we’ve been having lately is making it look like we are going to have a bad fire season,” Errecart said.

He said the outcome hangs on the amount of precipitation we will get in the spring.

However, with percentages well below average in previous years, it may be hard to see the bright, or rainy, side.

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