This Monday, three weeks pre-Group One, Rock Creek is flowing at a yet brisk 3,590 cfs (two times 45 mean average for this day) and, with respect to the melt-off of snow at the upper climes, we are beginning to make real progress.
Snow water equivalent atop Lolo Pass (where Lewis & Clark nearly met their maker 200+ years ago by leaving Travelers Rest too early and getting snowbound atop Lolo Peak) on Feb 21st of this year was 25.9", which increased to 29.9" on April 17th and, late last week, logged in at 11.4". Well, today, with the continued massive weekend runoff, the snow water equivalent atop Lolo is just 7.4".
By way of comparison, in the Bitterroot range, Skalkaho Summit had a swe equivalent of 16.2" on Feb 21st, which shot up to 33.7" on April 17th. Last week its snow water equivalent was 23.3" and, with the intervening runoff, its swe is currently 20.3% (a manageable 117% of average).
Sooo, I am pleased to report that we are making progress, gang...tremendous progress, in fact, in seeing snow (a) melting at the higher levels and (b) traversing its way downstream(s) and out of our area of concern. And the forecast is for that to continue all during this week and next with Missoula temperatures to have average highs in the mid 70's (with a forecast 86 degrees this coming Saturday!).
It's pretty simple from here on out: The higher the ambient temperature the more water runs off the mountains and the sooner our local rivers become fishable.
I have a call into Mother Nature for a further update and will let you know if, when and what I hear back!!
Best to all amidst the flow of it all,
RCR---<'///:><
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