A significant winter storm through the weekend could drop a foot or two of snow in the mountains of western Montana delivering deep fresh powder at the height of the holidays but also increasing the risk of large deadly avalanches. Mountain snowfall is predicted to be nearly constant through at least Sunday evening and likely continuing into next week.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation plan to update an environmental study on management of 14 federally managed dams along the Columbia and Snake rivers but a coalition of power navigation and agriculture groups says it would mislead the public about the role dams have to support the economy and the environment. Hydropower is the largest source of energy in the Pacific Northwest providing about 50% of the region’s annual energy generation.
The Montana Mesonet is a series of agricultural and water monitoring stations across the state now focused on expanding the number of hydromet stations in the eastern part of Montana. The state is more than halfway done building one for every 500 square miles in eastern Montana. Station data comes in every five minutes providing information on water in eastern Montana by measuring meteorological data soil moisture and even snowpack using sonic sensors.
The Montana Department of Commerce has awarded nearly $800,000 of planning grants to 21 Montana communities. The funding comes from the Montana Coal Endowment Program to help communities plan infrastructure projects for drinking water wastewater and stormwater systems. Officials say each grant plays a crucial role in reducing the financial burden on the cities that receive the money.
Since the tv series “Yellowstone” first started airing U.S. Census data shows between 2018 and 2022nearly 50,000 people exercised their own right to move to Montana drawn in part by “Yellowstone” itself. Builders and developers have scrambled to meet all these newcomers’ demands for housing ever since. The 69th Legislative session set to convene in January is planning to try again to deal with it.
Clark Fork River remediation work is set to resume in mid-January. The Montana Department of Environmental Quality is in charge of cleanup and the state’s Natural Resource Damage Program has said it plans to integrate its restoration work with DEQ’s remediation. The latest work will focus will be a stretch of stream and floodplain in the vicinity of Racetrack Pond in Powell County near the Deer Lodge County line.
Billings-Logan International Airport is seeing a record number of passengers since the pandemic this December. The airport has seen 80,000 passengers so far this month with over 900,000 this year. In comparison December 2022 and 2023 had roughly 71,000 passengers.
Polson Loaves and Fish Food Pantry recently received $12,000 from the Town Pump Charitable Foundation to fund its “Meals for Backpacks” program while the Ronan Bread Basket received $10,000. The foundation recently awarded 91 grants totaling $725,000 for organizations around the state to help schools food banks and service organizations that provide weekend meal programs for Montana school children.
A “Loki” fossil named after the Norse god who is often depicted wearing a horned helmet has been discovered in Montana’s Judith River Formation. Experts believe this dinosaur lived approximately 76 million years ago during the Late Cretaceous period when a diversity of dinosaurs roamed the Earth.
After a career spent working complex criminal cases as a prosecutor in New York City and Missoula Tara Elliott will take on the bench of Montana’s Fourth Judicial District covering Missoula and Mineral counties in January. She will replace retiring District Court Judge Robert “Dusty” Deschamps.
