Friday, October 23, 2026

Stillwater snowpack

Snowpack in the Upper Yellowstone River Basin, which Stillwater County falls under, is starting the winter out at 82 percent of normal.
That’s considerably better than the Lower Yellowstone River Basin which as of Tuesday was at 67 percent of normal, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).
The best current snowpack in the state is in the Jefferson River Basin at 107 percent of normal. Other basins are as follows:
Upper Yellowstone River Basin: 82 percent of normal
Lower Yellowstone River Basin: 67 percent of normal
Missouri Headwaters: 99 percent of normal
Missouri Mainstream Basin: 85 percent of normal
Smith-Judith-Musselshell: 95 percent of normal
Gallatin River Basin: 86 percent of normal
Madison River Basin: 90 percent of normal
Jefferson River Basin: 107 percent of normal

Strong Start in December
December got the snow off to a better than normal start, with 19 inches in Columbus (normal is 8.2 inches), 31.5 inches at Mystic Lake (normal is 18.1 inches) and 15.7 inches in Rapelje (normal is 8.5 inches).
January is running behind on snowfall, with .4 inches in Columbus (normal is 2.3 inches), .4 inches at Mystic Lake (normal is 2.4 inches) and 2.2 inches in Rapelje (normal is 2.9 inches). There is still more than half a month to go.