Snow pack in elk country

[A-con]

For thoses of you lucky enought to live where you don't have to buy an out of state tag to hunt elk, hows the snow pack this year ? Has there been much spring rain ?
In other words, are the elk going to starve this summer, or will there be pleanty of feed ?

 

[beardown]

I'm in western MT and this was supposedely the worse year weve had in a while, or best it depends how you look at it, there was alot of snow! What I'm more stoked about is the fact that it has been unseasonably warm and we have been getting a little rain about twice a week. So everything is really turning green right now and things are starting to bloom. Its my understanding that for elk to reach maximum growth potential you need exactly the kind of weather were having right now! As long as it continues to rain a little and stay nice and warm it should be an awesome year. Now that I have said that I'm sure we wont see rain again until next winter!

 

[Elkhunter]

Here is a link for the drought conditions, snow pack status and moisture content in the soil. Our snowpack is melting fast. A month ago I had about 2 feet of snow left in the yard, I now only have snow piles left from plowing.

http://www.wrds.uwyo.edu/wrds/wsc/dtf/drought.html

 

[1_pointer]

The snowpack in UT was above average a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunately there've been record highs all across the state for a couple of weeks now and much of the snow is sublimating and not getting to the water table. With some spring rains things could be pretty good yet. Still should be better than the last couple of years. A couple of different phlox's are already blooming and much of the perennial grasses are greening up and growing well.

 

[beardown]

Well I thought spring was here , woke up this morning to 3 inches of snow on the ground and its almost noon and it is still comming down!

 

[SJ]

I don't keep up with all the snow pack info, I only know that we had to move a clients Easter Merriam hunt back a couple of weeks due to the snow pack in the Delores River area.

 

[Oak]

Colorado (with a 1000 acre fire burning right now a couple miles to my West):
Snowpack tumbled from 88 percent of the 30- year average at the beginning of the month to 72 percent Monday.

An even bleaker picture emerges from individual basins: Southwest Colorado, which has been hit the hardest by the drought the past four years, fell from 109 percent of average to 76 percent as of Monday.

The South Platte River basin, which includes most of metro Denver, is the state's driest, at 60 percent.

Barring a major storm, March 2004 on the Front Range will go down as the driest since 1911, and the mountains aren't much better. Compounding the plight, warm temperatures the past few weeks have caused snow at lower levels to melt and evaporate, Gillespie said.

"We're losing snowpack at a time when we should be adding to it significantly," he said.
Full Story (April 1 numbers should come out today)

Oak

 

[BuckTrack]

Central Idaho had lots of snow this year,above normal, and it came before the ground had a chance to get really frozen. It is melting off real fast due to above normal weather for this time of year, in fact the snow pack it almost the same right now as it was last year when we had minimal snow pack. But the good news is that due to the ground not being terribly frozen,it is being absorbed by the soil, which will hopefully keep things green longer. But Wolfs are still here so you better get an Elk before its to late.

 

[Wapiti Slayer]

http://www.dailycamera.com/bdc/state_news/article/0,1713,BDC_2419_2774228,00.html


http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?id=1&display=rednews/2004/03/31/build/wyoming/30-wyo-drought.inc


http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/analysis_monitoring/regional_monitoring/palmer.gif

 

[Oak]

Here's what it looks like from town this afternoon. If this is happening on April 1, it doesn't bode well for the rest of the summer.

Oak

 

[ELKCHSR]

Hey Oak...
Your getting me excited...

 

[cmiddleton]

snow is gone already in central wyoming. no rain but calling for 1" of snow tonight and 3" tomarrow. ground is unfroze so it should sink in.

 

[DeerKing]

Colo Oak
You must live in Ft. Collins huh? Was up there yesterday and they had Hwy 14 closed. Not looking good, hopefully the rain coming in tonight will help put it out.

 

[Oak]

That's the place. It's not nearly as smoky this morning as it was yesterday morning, but we had a strong SE wind all night. I'll bet Laramie is smoky this morning. Looks like we'll get some good rain tonight.

Oak

 

[Oak]

The Picnic Rock Fire is 6,000 acres and growing, according to a revised estimate by fire officials. So far, $650,000 has been spent fighting the fire.

The fire moved north and west overnight and has jumped to the west side of the North Fork of the Poudre River. The fire has made a run west of the Bonner Peak Ranch subdivision, forcing officials to issue a standby alert for residents in the Hewlett Gulch area, about 6 miles west of Bonner Peak. Residents of Livermore already were on standby.

Winds have fanned the fire’s size from 3,500 acres Thursday night to 6,000 acres today, said Steven Hall, a spokesman for Rocky Mountain Area Team Bravo, which Thursday morning took responsibility for managing the fire.

Jesus Rodriguez, a firefighter with the Rifle Icemen, a state Department of Corrections crew made up of minimum security inmates, fought the blaze Thursday. “The wind scatters it from one hill to another. That’s when it blows up on you and you have to get out of there,” he said today before heading back to the line.

A few firefighters said the blaze was very difficult to fight and they were hoping for better weather conditions, more firefighters and continued air support. Approximately 300 firefighters will be working the fire today, with air tankers and helicopters joining the effort.

Colorado Highway 14 reopened about 8 a.m. today.

The fire destroyed a house and a garage on Thursday. No other structures are known to have been destroyed, Hall said. The blaze still is threatening 23 other homes and 70 additional structures.

 

[ELKCHSR]

Great update....

 

[Elkhunter]

I think Russ is getting a woody from these pictures.

 

[ELKCHSR]

You know it....WOOWOOWOOOWOO!!!! I can't hardly wait, been on the phone all day lining the crew up and getting things ready to go.....