How much rain have we had? Should drought be declared?
Montana Climate Data Supports Ranchers, Farmers, and Resource Managers
2022 Springby Kevin Hyde
Montana Mesonet Manager at the Montana Climate Office
Other authors: Lee Schmelzer, MSU Extension Agent, Stillwater County; Kelsey Jencso, State Climatologist, Montana Climate Office
In addition to precipitation and drought conditions, the Montana Mesonet monitoring station network helps answer questions about flooding forecasts, soil moisture, and fire danger. Mesonet is a network of 98 climate monitoring stations that provide near real-time weather, soil moisture data, and weather forecasts. The Mesonet website includes a map for quickly finding a nearby station. Clicking on a station will give quick access to precipitation, temperature, wind speed, soil moisture, and more for the last week in easy-to-read graphs. Weather forecasts are also available through the site.
Ground-based observations are critical for understanding moisture supplies and for triggering emergency programs in times of drought. The new stations have become an important component of verifying weekly assessments of drought by the Governor’s Drought and Water Supply Advisory Committee. Recommendations from the committee are sent to the U.S. Drought Monitor and used to designate drought categories across Montana’s counties and to trigger emergency programs – constituting millions to billions of dollars in support to farmers during drought. The National Weather Service forecast offices and the River Forecast Centers use the Mesonet data to improve daily forecasts and flood predictions in protection of lives and property.
In Stillwater County, MSU Extension agent Lee Schmelzer makes extensive use of Mesonet data throughout the year. The data from Stillwater County supports recommendations for adjusting the U.S. Drought Monitor categories. Soil moisture data improves estimates of available forage levels and qualification for loss insurance through the USDA FSA Agency Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program or NAP. During the summer of 2021, the data informed Schmelzer’s recommendations to the Stillwater County Commissioners as they deliberated a disaster declaration due to drought. Schmelzer uses Mesonet soil moisture data to refine crop condition reports during the growing season and inform agronomic decisions for planning cropping for the coming year. He uses the visualization tools on the Montana Climate Office Drought Dashboard to enhance communication with the media and the local community.
In Sweet Grass County, MSU Extension Agent Marc King recognizes that he and others are in the early learning phase of understanding how to use the data from Mesonet. During the past summer, several producers regularly monitored data from the local stations to watch changes in soil moisture as the drought deepened. King used the data with county commissioners to assess the progression of drought conditions and as guidance for implementing burn restrictions. A cattleman himself, King works with other ranchers to track weather conditions leading into the spring. As winter snow declines, how much forage can we plan on? How many head of cattle will range conditions feed?
Data from Montana Mesonet is helping to answer questions that are important to agricultural producers, drought advisory groups, scientists, and many others. There is also a lot of potential for creating decision support tools for agricultural producers based on the Mesonet data, a prospect that both MSU Extension agents are looking forward to.
Access Montana Mesonet at: https://climate.umt.edu/mesonet/
Learn more about the Governor’s Drought and Water Supply Advisory Committee – Monitoring Sub-Committee at: http://dnrc.mt.gov/divisions/water/drought-management/drought-committee/monitoring-sub-committee-msc