Drought Advances Through September

The 2020 drought in Powder River County continued through September, as Broadus received .46" of precipitation on the month, falling over a half inch behind the 1.08" September average.

The miniscule precipitation totals in September fall into line with the rest of 2020, which has been the driest on record through the first nine months of the year. From January 1st through September 30th of this year, the Broadus weather station located at the courthouse recorded 5.43" of precipitation. The previous lowest amount of moisture recorded during the first nine months of the year was in 1988, with 5.64". That's right, folks, 2020 has been drier than 1988.

So far in October, we continue to fall behind the 1988, sitting at nearly ¾" behind as of October 6th.

The record high for precipitation through the first nine months of the year came in 2019, with 21.92" of moisture through that period, while the normal amount of precipitation over the first nine months of the year is 11.81". "Normal" is always a bit of a misnomer when it comes to describing moisture in Eastern Montana, and is perhaps best described by David Stuver, in his excellent fly fishing treatise Familiar Waters, A lifetime of fly fishing Montana (available through Riverfeet Press). David writes: "Normal is a relative phrase, as in several areas of Eastern and Northern Montana, a median or average seems to represent only a point somewhere between extremes of weather and precipitation."

Turning back to 2020, we see that the high for September in Broadus was a blistering 101 degrees on September 5th. That high was not a record, as a 103 degree high was recorded on September 5th of 1978.

The coldest day in September came less than a week after the high, as the mercury dipped to 26 on September 9th, beating the previous record low of 28 degrees, set in 1943.

Though many a garden was lost to the hard frost on September 9th, the benefit of the cold came in a decided reduction in flying insects, though flies seemed to survive just fine, moving inside of homes to pester the residents.

Weather around the area was similar to Broadus in September, that is, dry, with record setting heat and cold. The Biddle 8 miles SW station accumulated .52" of moisture in September, compared to an average of 1.35". The station recorded a new record high of 104 on September 5th, and record lows on both September 8th and 9th of 31 and 26, on respective days.

The Moorhead 9 Miles NE station had .51" of precip in September, compared to an average of 1.06". Their high of 101 on September 5th was not a record, but lows of 29 on September 8th and 25 on September 9th were both record lows.

In the western end of PR County, the Sonnette 7 miles SW station had .61" of precip in September, compared to an average of 1.18". Their highs of 99 on September 5th, 93 on September 14th, and 85 on September 21st were all records for the station. Meanwhile, the record lows of 28 on September 8th and 23 on September 9th were records for those dates. The coldest temp recorded at the station in September came on September 22nd, which was not a record for that date. The record low in September at the high country station was a blustery 10, on September 25th, 1984.

The Volborg Station, which only records precip and didn't have an average on record, accumulated .45" of moisture in September.

The Powderville 8 miles NNE station had .47" of precip, which all fell September 7th. Their normal for September is 1.27". The high for the month of 98 on September 5th and low of 26 on September 9th were not records, those being 105 in 1978 and 22 in 1992. The Powderville station was the only station in the area to not break a record for temperature in September of 2020.

October has thus far been dry and seasonable in temperature, with hopes that moisture may be on the way. Someday.