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U.S. Department of Commerce logo and link to site Climate of 2003 - July
Montana Drought

National Climatic Data Center, 14 August 2003

NOAA logo and link to site

Dry conditions in Montana during the last three months have resulted in the tenth driest July, 13th driest June-July, and 15th driest May-July, statewide, in the 109-year record. As noted by the National Weather Service (Gina Loss),
  • the recent dryness resulted in rapidly depleted soil moisture at the Great Falls station
  • in southwest Montana ... by mid-July many reservoirs were low; Clark Canyon Reservoir was down to 14% of normal and dropping 7-9 inches/day, with inflows at record low levels
  • fishing restrictions and land use restrictions were implemented at several locations
The recent dryness has compounded conditions resulting from prolonged drought. The last eleven months ranked as the 12th driest September-July on record, with much of the state experiencing 75-90 percent of normal precipitation over the 4-year period August 1999-July 2003.

Statewide Precipitation Ranks
for Montana , 2002-2003
Period Rank
Jul 10th driest
Jun-Jul 13th driest
May-Jul 15th driest
Apr-Jul 17th driest
Mar-Jul 30th driest
Feb-Jul 32nd driest
Jan-Jul 29th driest
Dec-Jul 21st driest
Nov-Jul 15th driest
Oct-Jul 14th driest
Sep-Jul 12th driest
Aug-Jul 24th driest
Montana statewide precipitation departures, January 1998 - present
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Montana statewide Palmer Z Index, January 1998 - present
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Montana statewide precipitation, July      1895-2003
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Montana statewide Palmer Hydrological Drought Index, January 1900 - July      2003
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Graphic showing NOAA logo NCDC / Clim. Monitoring / Climate-2003 / Jul / U.S. Regional Drought / Search / Help

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Last Updated Friday, 18-Nov-2005 14:12:01 EST by Richard.Heim@noaa.gov
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