2020 was driest year on record

7.49” of moisture in 2020 was over ¼” drier than 1988 total

Broadus recorded its driest year on record in 2020, with a scant 7.49” of precipitation falling over the course of the year. 1988 was the previous driest year on record, with 7.77” of moisture, followed by 1952, with 7.87”. Records go back to 1920 in Broadus, though yearly precipitation totals are not available for a large portion of the 1920s and ‘30s.

In contrast, on a “normal” year, (whatever that is), Broadus receives a mean of 13.98” of precipitation. The record high came in 2019, with 24.09”.

The lack of precipitation over the year resulted in drought-like conditions throughout much of Powder River County. As of December 29th, 2020, most of the county was in the D2 or “Severe Drought” zone, while a portion of the county roughly translating to the Big Powder valley from the Wyoming border to Broadus, along with the high country to the southeast of the Powder stretching to the Little Powder, was in D3 or “Extreme Drought”, per the US Drought Monitor website. Extreme Drought conditions continued up the Powder into Wyoming, encompassing much of the Bighorn Mountains, while conditions were less severe in most of Montana outside of Southeastern Montana.

The Biddle 8 miles SW Station had 8.46” of precipitation in 2020. Their record low year was 1979, with 7.00”. Recordings were not complete for 1988 at that station.

The Moorhead 9 miles NE station recorded 7.52” of precip in 2020. The record low at that station was 1988, with 7.26”.

The Sonnette 7 miles SW station had an impressive 12.80” of moisture in 2020. Their lowest precip year was 2002, with 9.20”.

At the Volborg station, moisture totals for December of 2020 were missing, but December moisture was miniscule around the area, so it’s fairly safe to say that the 7.42” of moisture recorded through November of 2020 was not far off the total. That would make 2020 a record low at that station, the previous record being held by 1952, with 8.70”. Full data was not available at the station in 1988.

The Powderville 8 miles NNE station had 11.36” of moisture in 2020. Their record low of 6.59” in 1990 was the lowest recorded in one year in the entire local area, though a full year’s worth of records was not available in 1988 at that station. Only December was missing from 1988, with the other 11 months of the year totaling a terrible 4.38” in total.

Conditions through December remained mostly dry across the area, with a small storm on the 12th causing some light snow accumulation and bad roads for a short period of time. Temps were also warm in December – Broadus topped out at 62 and the mercury only dipped down to a low of 5 for the month. The average temperature in December was 32.4 degrees, or nearly 10 degrees above the normal average temp of 23.1.