Current MT Weather map

[Nemont]

http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/ggw/

I don't know if I have ever seen so many colors for watches, warnings and special weather statements covering the entire map. Even a winter storm warning over west and it is the 25th of May!!

Nemont

 

[Ben Lamb]

Driving to work today, I went by my gunsmith's shop which is on 10 mile creek out in the valley. The property to the North of his is under water, and the park to the east is flooded as well.

It's pretty darned soggy out there.

 

[putm2sleep]

Same here last night reported for Colorado by 9news! More snow, severe weather and warnings of more terrible weather. 1 week to June? Praying for those folks in MO and OK!

 

[mtmiller]

Just slipped in a raptor survey route through the Bears Paw. Creeks are flowing strong, but no road damage where I was. I was running out of days to get this done. Hinted of rain, but got it finished up before any moisture.

 

[onpoint]

Water coming over roads all around the Bozeman area.....starting to get interesting.

 

[Horn Seeker]

Awfully wet here in Billings... going to get wetter. They are calling for showers the next 5 days, then a significant storm coming in with 2-6 inches of precip Sunday-Tuesday... and that includes you north boys too.... Unreal. The Yeller here in Billings went from 26K yesterday to 50K right now... Its been rising around 2K per hour all day...

 

[mdunc8]

Whole lot of black on the map

http://waterdata.usgs.gov/mt/nwis/rt

 

[Nemont]

Well they shut the spillway at Fort Peck due to Garrison filling so fast that it will be within a ft of the top of the gates.

Lots more water coming down the Missouri River - now!

Omaha, Neb. – Repeated rounds of heavy rain across Montana and the Dakotas, coupled with far above normal mountain snowpack, have pushed reservoirs to a level which calls for aggressive water releases from Missouri River mainstem dams, said Jody Farhat, Chief of the Corps' Missouri River Basin Water Management Division in Omaha.

"The upper Missouri River is seeing dramatic increases in flows, particularly after as much as eight inches of rain fell over the weekend in portions of eastern Montana and western North Dakota," Farhat said. "Unusually heavy precipitation, combined with late season heavy snowpack in parts of the Missouri Basin, means we will see near-record runoff in the Missouri basin."

Farhat thinks it is possible that Garrison Dam may be within a foot of the top of its spillway gates by this time next week. "We're beginning to make some major adjustments to water releases, starting with Fort Peck south to Gavins Point Dam and expect to do so for some time since the extended forecast is calling for more of the same."

Garrison Dam releases were increased to 60,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) today and will be stepped up until they reach 75,000 cfs on Wednesday. At the same time, releases from the upstream reservoir Fort Peck will be reduced from the current rate of 20,000 cfs to 10,000 cfs to help stem the rise of Garrison reservoir. Garrison reservoir is expected to reach 1853 feet by this weekend due to the high flow on the Yellowstone and Little Missouri Rivers. Fort Peck reservoir is also climbing rapidly due to weekend’s rainfall and low elevation snowmelt. It is expected to rise 2 feet this week, reaching 2246 by the weekend.Oahe Dam releases will transition from 60,000 cfs today to 70,000 cfs by mid-week. Farhat expects the Oahe reservoir to reach 1618 feet by the weekend and continue to slowly drift upward over the next few weeks, perhaps peaking in mid-June. The record pool at Oahe is 1618.7 feet, set in 1995 and repeated in 1996. The peak pool level in 1997 was 0.1 foot lower at 1618.6.

Fort Randall has some space to store water, but the river reach between there and Gavins Point is already at bankfull. Gavins Point releases were increased to 60,000 cfs this afternoon and will be slowly ramped up over the coming days, possibly reaching 75,000 cfs in June unless conditions improve. This will eventually necessitate a similar magnitude increase in Fort Randall’s releases.

Travel time for water released from Garrison Dam to reach the Bismarck area is about 36 hours. River managers are expecting stages of approximately 16.5 to 17 feet in the Bismarck area when the river stabilizes. The Corps' Omaha District office has deployed technical teams to help prepare for flood fighting around Bismarck and to assess the flood potential in the Pierre area.

"As already seen in other parts of the nation, high water years always bring pain and suffering with them," said Farhat. "We are doing everything we can to protect people and their property and reduce the extent and impact of flood stages along the Missouri. The situation in the Missouri River basin is changing rapidly and planned releases are subject to change with little notice

 

[Horn Seeker]

WOW... Jellystone is now officially double the flow it was yesterday in Billings... About 10 inches under flood stage. Still 110+ inches of snow on the beartooth....

 

[Rat Fink]

Driving to work today, I went by my gunsmith's shop which is on 10 mile creek out in the valley. The property to the North of his is under water, and the park to the east is flooded as well.

It's pretty darned soggy out there.

Oh you are friends with Dennis as well.

We have been keeping track pretty closely to this flooding issue. Incidents like this really effect long term planning. Lessons to be learned here on building placement for sure.

 

[Horn Seeker]

Well, last night the Yeller crested here in Billings at 67,000 cfs, its 4th highest reading ever... and we are slated for heavy rain and mountain snow Sunday-Tuesday.... That river went from 26,000 to 67,000 in about 36 hours!

 

[Nemont]

Historic amounts of water flowing down the mighty Mo.

Missouri River Dam Releases To Reach Historic Level
Thursday, May 26th 2011
Releases from the Missouri River reservoirs will reach historic levels in the coming weeks, the result of above-normal snow in the mountains and extraordinary rain over the last several weeks. Significant flooding in cities, towns and agricultural land is expected in North and South Dakota with many areas from Sioux City, Iowa, to the Mississippi rising above flood stage.

Flows from five of the six dams are expected to reach a record 110,000 cubic feet per second (cfs). The previous high releases were 70,000 cfs in the fall of 1997. “Public safety is our number one concern,” said Brig. Gen. John McMahon, commander of the Northwestern Division of the Army Corps of Engineers. “We are working closely with state and local emergency management teams to identify potential flood areas, provide residents with the most current information and help protect vital public infrastructure.

“People along the river are encouraged to make evacuation plans to protect their possessions and property. Maps for potential flood areas will be available at www.nwo.usace.army.mil and from local emergency management offices,” he added.

Flooded areas are expected to be inundated for several months.

“Moving water out of the reservoirs is essential to prevent the spillways from being overtopped which would make flooding much worse,” said General McMahon. “Our release plan is based on the rain we’ve already received and the forecasted snow melt. More heavy rain storms could cause major revisions.” At these levels, additional releases do not significantly change the foot print of the flooding, only the depth.

In the last month, the upper basin has received a year’s worth of rain. “The amount of rain has nearly filled the reservoirs, doing away with most of the flexibility we had built into our operations for this year,” said Jody Farhat, Chief of the Water Management Division here. “With the arrival of the 140 percent-of-normal snowpack runoff, all the reservoirs will reach their maximum levels.”

Releases Fort Peck, Mont., are expected to reach 40,000 cfs in early June and peak at 50,000 cfs in early July. The reservoir is forecast to reach within a foot of the top of the spillway gates.

Garrison releases will increase from the current 75,000 cfs to 85,000 cfs on Monday, May 30 and reach 105,000 cfs about mid-June. The peak reservoir level will likely reach the top of the spillway gates at 1853.9 feet. Many areas along the river in the Bismarck-Mandan area will be flooded with 3 to 6 feet of water.

Oahe releases will follow a pattern similar to Garrison, reaching 85,000 cfs on Saturday, May 28 and as high as 100,000 cfs by June 6 and 110,000 cfs by late in the month. The reservoir will peak within a foot of the top of the spillway gates at 1619 feet. Many areas along the river in Pierre will be flooded with 2 to 6 feet of water.

Big Bend releases will mirror those from Oahe, with its reservoir level remaining at 1420 feet.

Releases from Fort Randall will gradually increase from the current 61,000 cfs to 110,000 cfs by late-June. River stages in the reach below the dam should rise 2 to 6 feet.

Releases from Gavins Point will gradually increase from the current 63,000 to 110,000 cfs by the end of June. River stages 3-6 feet above flood stage are expected from just below Sioux City to the mouth north of St. Louis.

 

[Horn Seeker]

If ya'll haven't seen, Roundup is under major water right now...Flood stage for the Musselshell there is 10 feet, the previous record was 12.9 feet and the current stage is 14.75 feet! If you are familiar with roundup, its sort of partially on floodplain with some up on a hill... the floodplain stuff is sitting under 2-8 feet of water in places... that includes gas stations, cafes and LOTS of other businesses. Right now, the only other town they can get to is up north to Havre or east to Forsyth, then back to Billings Via 94. Cant get to Lewistown or Billings or west towards Harlow...

To top it off, they are forecasted for 1-3 inches of rain in the next 5 days....

Wow. (the musselshell flood is the result of 5-6 inches of rain around Harlowtown in about 1 day....)

 

[Buschy]

Bismarck is in trouble and it's going to get a lot worse in the next ten days. I never thought I would see this kind of water flowing through town. It's hard to comprehend. Voluntary evacuations have started on the south side of town. Currently Garrison Dam is releasing 75,000 cubic feet/second (CFS). That will be ramped up to 85,000 by Monday, and 105,000 on June 9. 94,000 CFS marks a 100 year flood event in Bismarck so you can see what we are looking at. The crazy thing is this flood is predicted to last into July or ealy August! Keep the people here in you thoughts and prayers.

 

[highmountian]

Are you guy's still on the map up there. Hope all gets better.

 

[Horn Seeker]

That is brutal Buschy. Unreal.

Here's what Roundup, MT looks like today....

 

[Sytes]

Holy Shnitz!!!!

Thoughts and prayers with everyone effected... Does not seem to let up any time soon either... WOW! That pic, HS, really drives the thought home!
Is Roundup in a land depression / flood zone area? That has got to be hurting some families!

 

[DavidKeenan]

Horn Seeker
Do you live right in Billings? I just talked to mom and she told me they were getting pounded. I think they will be ok, where there house is. They live off of Rimrock Actually, I think it may be Rimrock Estates. They're in the back of the sub division under the rimrock Sorta west, and under the airport. I'm sure you know where i'm talking about.. Anyway, I hope everyone affected by the storms and water everyhere, are Ok. I guess I'm sorta lucky, where I live here in the mountains of WV. The creek will have to get pretty deep to flood me, and the River is 15 miles or so away flowing away.

 

[Horn Seeker]

Part of roundup is definitely in the 100 yr floodplain, but I haven't heard of any flooding of this part of town before. But, thats not surprising, this event set a big time record, I think the water was 2 1/2 feet higher than ever recorded before. Widespread heavy rain dumped 4-6 inches over the upper Musselshell river basin....that water all went downhill and was confined to the river channel area...and it didn't all fit.

its small potatoes compared to what Buschy is talking about. Only 30 homes (sorry to those 30) were effected in Roundup.

David, the airport/rimrock area got hammered by rain the other day. The Rims had these massive waterfalls coming off them, it looked like some sort of national park, scenic area... there are a few pics online. There were only a few houses that really got flooded out in that area where those "rivers" came off the rims and went through a couple houses.

 

[DavidKeenan]

Mom was telling me about that. I'm not sure if she got any pictures. She did mention some of the homes getting some damage. She is far enough away from the rimrock that it probably wouldn't effect them as much as the ones in the drainages and closer to the "waterfalls"