Thursday, March 28, 2024

Early winter storm brings 3.5 inches of snow to Columbus

A week of cool, wet weather was topped off with a sprinkling of moisture-laden snow last Friday, with Columbus getting 3.5 inches of the white stuff.
With it came a bit of chaos, as multiple large tree limbs were broken under the weight of the snow in Columbus and Absarokee. Power lines were compromised in both locations as well. City of Columbus Public Works crews made the rounds early Friday morning, clearing streets and opening the dump. Public Works Superintendent Dennis Holten said the dump will remain open during the day for the remainder of the week and the city will most likely not charge for tree limbs for the next week or so.
It is the responsibility of the property owner to get the limbs to the dump.
“We don’t want people stacking their debris from their yards out in the street for us to pick up. We can’t do that, just don’t have the crew,” said Holten.
The storm brought a foot of snow to Mystic Lake, putting the monthly total at 20 inches — well above the normal amount of 3.5 inches at this point in the month, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).
The storm brought only rain to Rapelje, but plenty of it at 1.26 inches.

THE NUMBERS
The recent moisture brought Columbus to above normal precipitation year-to-date at 13.11 inches, according to the NWS. The normal amount at this point in the year is 12.21 inches.
At Mystic Lake, the year-to-date precipitation number is 25.3 inches — above the normal amount of 19.32 inches.
Rapelje has seen 13.07 inches of moisture year-to-date — slightly above the normal amount of 12.03 inches.

The following is a summary of snowfall amounts for events that occurred from 9 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 20, through 11 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 24, according to the National Weather Service
STILLWATER SNOWFALL TOTALS
Fishtail (18.1 miles SW) 4 PM Sat 13 inches
Nye (.1 miles SE) 9 AM Sat 8.8 inches
Columbus (.9 miles NW) 6 AM Fri 3.5 inches
Park City (6 miles WSW) 4 PM Fri 2 inches
Columbus (7.2 miles E) 7 AM Sat 1 inches

The following is a summary of rainfall totals for events that occurred from 9 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 20, through 11:59 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 24.
STILLWATER RAINFALL TOTALS
Fishtail (18.1 miles SW) 4 PM Sat 2.93 inches
Park City (6 miles WSW) 5 PM Sat 2.36 inches
Columbus (7.5 miles E) 7 AM Sat 2.22 inches
Columbus (7.2 miles E) 7 AM Sat 2.17 inches
Park City (5 miles S) 7 AM Sat 1.86 inches
Molt (5.7 miles SSW) 7 AM Sat 1.83 inches
Reed Point (5 miles SE) 6 AM Sun 1.78 inches
Columbus (9 miles NW) 7 AM Sat 1.68 inches
Absarokee (.6 miles S) 8 AM Sat 1.47 inches
Columbus (6 miles SSE) 8 AM Sat 1.31 inches
•Numbers in parenthesis indicate distances from town