Spring Snow Data

[jstahlberg]

I was unsure if I should post this in the general forum, or here, being seeing as I'm compiling data for a spring bear hunt I figured I'd be safe asking here. I'm looking to hunt an area that would require me to backpack into a wilderness area in Montana, and was hoping to get all angles of this hunt covered before I go out and do it. The biggest thing is making sure the snow has receded enough to both reach the trailhead and hike the miles to the 1st spot I'd set camp up for. What I was hoping some other forum members could provide would be the resources used for looking at both realtime and historic snowfall. I've used the NOAA SNOTEL to check realtime, but was wondering what else is available, especially for looking into yearly trends in snowpack decline. Thanks in advance.

 

[mtwarden]

Snotel is your best bet. My preferred method is to look at several sites, not just the closest. Try to pick one at roughly the same elevation if possible, but also pay attention to the site itself- is north facing (going to hold more snow) or south facing (going to lose snow quicker), etc.

Not directly related to how much snow is on the ground, but on caltopo.com (mapping site) they have an overlay called slope angle shading- this is very indicative of where snow is going to be lost early and where it's going to hang on.

 

[jstahlberg]

Snotel is your best bet. My preferred method is to look at several sites, not just the closest. Try to pick one at roughly the same elevation if possible, but also pay attention to the site itself- is north facing (going to hold more snow) or south facing (going to lose snow quicker), etc.

Not directly related to how much snow is on the ground, but on caltopo.com (mapping site) they have an overlay called slope angle shading- this is very indicative of where snow is going to be lost early and where it's going to hang on.

Thanks! I've started checking out the Caltopo map, lot's of good information, and good overlays, on there.

 

[mtwarden]

caltopo rocks; I use it extensively for planning trips- hunting and otherwise lots of stuff you can do with it!

 

[zion zig zag]

I like looking at the basin in whole in addition to the station: https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/porta...elativeDate=-1&lat=50.26&lon=-119.99&zoom=4.0