Sunday River, events, spring snow, data,  water temps, and flows

Lots happening here on the Mighty Mo as we move through the month of May. One of our staff’s favorite months the Missouri River in May can shine. And it has been shining the past couple weeks. Even some fish up here and there.

But the fishing report will come tomorrow. And the fishing is getting better. Totally.

New Summer Hours 7am-8pm daily.

Current Events

June 1st UMOWA Missouri River Spring Trash Clean-Up. RSVP jraty@UMOWA.org

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Missouri River Basin Water Data

Rain. Lots of rain and snow the past few days. Looks like we may get a couple inches of water from it. Or a bit more? Good news. Look at the charts as the Montana snow water equivalent is increasing. Looks like about 15% so far. Will the rain and high mountain snows reduce the drought we are staring at right now. Will it dampen the earth? Keep waters in our rivers? Hope so. Didi my rain dance last night after a few tequila’s. This morning too. But slower.

Below you can see some movement. A few days before the first chart on Mt St. Helens Day May 18th the numbers were even a bit lower. These are YTD numbers, percentages. That means that in a perfect world, for an average water year, we should be looking at the number 100. So anything less than that is not great news. Means less water stored int eh mountains, less water in our rivers 2021.

The 10% increase that you see is not much. These numbers can move pretty quickly as the days pass. You can see the movement in two days, it can go the other direction just as quickly. A tennis moment for the balance of our Mo River summer.

Looks like the rainy period will continue for at least another week. That’s good. May brings us about 2″ of liquid sun, June 2.62″. We are in the rainy, monsoon, season so bring it on! Within reason Mother Nature…

Check out the Montana Snow Water Equivalent maps here.

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Need deep USDA water data. Check out the Montana Water Supply Outlook Report published monthly. Fascinating PDF’s in this hyper informative database.

Another deep Montana DEQ info sheet. It’s Sunday, catch up on your water info?! DEQ Montana Final Water Quality Integrated Report April 2021

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Two charts above are interesting. The first shows the water temps and not only the huge increase in water temps earlier in the week. Two reasons. Low water, low volume, requires less energy to move the water temp needle. The other is the sun. 89F on Monday. Warm! Hot! We don’t like the temps moving around like that. The fish don’t either.

Secondly are the Toston inflows. That chart will turn the other direction soon as well. As quickly as it ascends, it can descend. Currently the Mo River below Holter flows are about 3500cfs.

Flows coming out of the Dearborn are lower, because the precipitation int eh Rockies, manifests itself as snow. Snow does not melt til the air temps increase, which will of course happen. But tight now the Dearborn and Prickly Pear creeks are running clear. No problem with them tossing mud.

See the USGS Current Water Data for the state here. 

Recent Legislation: Want to read the Montana SB 358 which outlines the changes in our Montana Water Nutrient load and how the current state legislature and the governor feel about Montana water quality.