68 MONTANA FARM REVIEW 



western corner of the state and somewhat smaller sections in the mountains of the 

 central, south-central, and southwestern portions have the greatest annual totals of 

 snowfall. The short record for Saltese averages 161.5 inches of snow for the year, 

 Hebgen Dam averaged 150.3 inches in sixteen years. The EUiston average is 137.3 

 inches; Belton, 122.2 inches; Red Lodge, 106 inches; Pine Grove, in the Big Snowy 

 Mountain district, 104.5 inches; Adel, at the northern end of the Big Belts, 98.3 inches. 

 The lowest totals of snowfall, amounts between 20 and 30 inches, and at an occasional 

 station less than 20 inches, are scattered through the east and north. Fallon, with 13.3 

 inches in a ten year record, represents the minimum. 



Light '^^^ broader range sections, it will be noted, have comparatively light 



Snowfall snowfall. The snow cover on the plains and the lower flats generally 



diminishes quickly, through melting, evaporation, and the action of 



"*" the sweeping winds, which carry the bulk of it into the coulees and 



draws, leaving the grazing grounds still largely available for livestock much of the time. 



Irrigation in many sections supplements the rainfall and carries into fields and 

 pastures water to provide sufficiently for times when the natural supply is deficient. 



At stations where this factor has up to this time been determined more or less 

 satisfactorily, the average number of days in the course of a year when precipitation 

 amounting to at least .01 inch occurs (either rain or snow), varies from 38 at Fallon 

 to 136 at Haugan, Mineral county. 



Summer produces a quota of atmospheric electrical disturbances which ordinarily 

 is not large. The thunderstorms are occasionally heavy, and the accompanying winds 

 may rise tempestuously for short times, with pouring rain. Sometimes destructive hail 

 also is precipitated and crops are laid waste over considerable areas. Hail insurance 

 is available to minimize the danger of financial loss from such a cause. 



It will be seen that Montana is a region of pronounced meteorological contrasts. 

 Extreme temperature records range from -65 degrees to 117 degrees, while annual means 

 of temperature range from 32.3 degrees in the mountains to 46.2 degrees in river valleys. 

 The yearly snowfall varies from a low mark of 13.3 inches on the plains to a high mark 

 of 161.5 inches in the mountains, and annual total precipitation is from less than nine 

 inches in the dryest districts to more than thirty inches in the rough country where the 

 yearly averages are greatest. 



