WARM AND WET
Some Snow: Some Rain
snow melts quickly
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| WALLPAPER: OVERBANK FLOW MADISON RIVER |
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.. Pacific moisture is still streaming into Montana from a displaced Gulf of Alaska Low Pressure System.
.. It brings wet snow to the higher elevations of our mountains and warm rain to the rest of the hills and river valleys.
.. The intermittent cyclic nature of the storms and, the rapid warm-up between them, sends the melting wet snow charging down slope into the saturated river valleys.
.. Fisher folk look to the hills and praise our current snow pack and the snow water content. It is higher than we've seen in quite some time.
.. However, both the pack and water content are sinking rapidly to low levels. The snow pack depth is holding nicely but the water content is already below normal.
.. We'll keep you posted as May fades to June and then rapidly slips into July. This phenomena produces an interesting bit of dynamic in our river's runoff.
.. As the cooler storm weather slows the snow melt, the tributary streams slow down and rapidly clear of their suspended load.
.. As the post-storms warm weather bursts into the neighborhood the tributaries roar to life and color up as they grasp the sand, silt and clay from their channel and move it down stream.
.. "So what?" - you say! It's a normal thing. And so it is BUT, the regularity of this oscillating phenomenon leads the neighbors to "FISH THE PULSE."
.. Right now the Gallatin River is pulsing regularly. Sections of the river are very clear: others are chocolate.
.. Some folks in Bozeman and many in Big Sky are searching the river for the clear segments - AND CATCHING FISH. It seems that the fish understand this!
.. The clear plugs vary in length depending on the depth of the cold weather and the rapidity of the warm-up. Some of these clear pulses can be several miles long. Take you time and carefully examine and observe the river for clues.
.. River depth can maintain or degrade the pulse. Deeper sections are generally the most clear, (higher upstream.) More shallow sections can slow and mix the sediments and produce cloudy or milky waters.
.. Kudos to those neighbors from around here and as far away as Bozeman who have figured this out and are fishing through this high water "unfishable" river stage. Dry/dropper is the ticket.
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.. So far our predicted storm is kind of puny. We're headed to that fresh section of water just below Taylor Fork... It's just now beginning to color up. Hopefully this 'storm' will bring some coolness and another pulse of clearer water.
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| WALLPAPER: WAFFLED HASH BROWN SPUDS & CHEESE OMELET |