Yellowstone Rivers Turn Muddy

FIREHOLE RUNNING HIGH
unseasonable warmth hits the park

-- Now is the time to check your "Dark Nymph" supply! The rivers on the west side of Yellowstone National Park are bank-full and running at discharge rates that exceed the average for the last six years.
-- Even as far upstream as Black Sand Basin, the water is high and off-color. Iron Spring Creek is about to over-top its banks, and the Little Firehole, Firehole, Madison, and Gibbon are close.
-- The 15 year average flow for the Firehole River, for this date, is right at 500 cfs. Today the river is running at just about double that!
-- The 78 year average flow for the Madison River, for this date is about 850 cfs, at the last gauge in the park. Today it is just at 1,200 and climbing - as is the temperature.
-- By the time the Madison river reaches the Kirby Ranch gauge near Camron, Montana is flowing at twice that vol.
-- Even the campground meadow on the Gibbon is flooded. This is a good time to keep an eye on the river gauges, (links in the sidebar,) and the weather forcast. With only a week to go, it would take an extream cold spell of two or three days to slow the rivers.
-- Be sure to have a good supply of dark, buggy, large nymphs for the opener on the west side of Yellowstone.

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