4. REGIONAL CLIMATE: The regional climate of central 

 Montana is characterized by warm summers and cold, 

 snowy winters. The climate of the single location 

 in Glacier National Park is generally moister, 

 more temperate, and less affected by cold, dry 

 continental air masses than the central Montana 

 occurrences. The precipitation peak in central 

 Montana is generally as rain or wet snow in May 

 and June, but in northwestern Montana is typically 

 as snow in December and January (U.S. Department 

 of Commerce 1982) . 



The climatic station closest to the central 

 Montana sites is at Stanford, which is about 18 

 miles northeast and, at 4308 feet (1315 m) , about 

 1500 feet (460 m) lower than most of the sites in 

 the Little Belt Mountains. For the period 1951- 

 1980 (U.S. Department of Commerce 1982), the 

 January mean temperature was 20.5°F (2.6°C), the 

 July mean temperature was 65.2°F (18.6°C), and the 

 annual mean temperature was 43.2°F (6.3°C). The 

 mean annual precipitation was 15.34 inches (38.4 

 cm), with May (3.01 inches) (7.5 cm) and June 

 (3.07 inches) (7.7 cm) being the wettest months. 



The Polebridge climatic station is about 15 miles 

 south of the Kintla Lake site and, at 3690 feet 

 (1125 m) , is about 700 feet (210 m) lower. For 

 the period 1951-1980 (U.S. Department of Commerce 

 1982), the January mean temperature was 17 . 1°F 

 (-8.3°C) the July mean temperature was 60.5°F 

 (15.9°C), and the annual mean temperature was 

 39.4°F (4.1°C). The mean annual precipitation was 

 23.34 inches (58.4 cm) with December (2.94 inches) 

 (7.4 cm) and January (3.03 inches) (7.6 cm) being 

 the wettest months. 



F. POPULATION DEMOGRAPHY AND BIOLOGY 



1. PHENOLOGY: In Montana, flowering appears to begin 

 in late July or early August, and extend into mid- 

 September. 



2. POPULATION SIZE AND CONDITION: Populations of G. 

 repens are generally sparsely or sporadically 

 scattered throughout areas of suitable habitat. 

 Population sizes generally range from ten to a few 

 hundred stems, although a population of greater 

 than 10,000 stems has been observed. Population 

 size (number of visible stems or rosettes) appears 

 to be quite variable from year to year, as noted 

 by fluctuations in the Sandpoint Creek (001) 



