Wood Creek SNOTEL

5,970 ftLewis and Clark County, MontanaNRCS site 876Updated Fri Oct 16, 4:00 AM MDT

SWE1.0″no median
Depth5″−2″ 48 h
Temp27°27°–46° 48 h
Thu 15Past 48 hSnow water equivalent1.0″ now0.511.51.0″Snow depth5″ now57.55″Air temperature27°F now40°32°27°FNow · Fri 4 AM
ThuPast 48 hSnow water equivalent1.0″ now0.511.51.0″Snow depth5″ now57.55″Air temperature27°F now40°32°27°FNow · Fri 4 AM
Sat 10Sun 11Mon 12Tue 13Wed 14Thu 15Past 7 daysSnow water equivalent1.0″ now011.0″Snow depth5″ now0105″Air temperature27°F now50°32°27°FNow · Fri 4 AM
SatSunMonTueWedThuPast 7 daysSnow water equivalent1.0″ now011.0″Snow depth5″ now0105″Air temperature27°F now50°32°27°FNow · Fri 4 AM
0″5″10″OctNovDecJanFebMarAprMayJunJulMedian peak 9.5″ · Apr 161.0″ today
0″5″10″ONDJFMAMJJMedian peak 9.5″ · Apr 161.0″ today
<50%50–6970–8990–109110–129130–149150%+
0″2″8″16″32″+
0″6″24″48″100″+
Map
Open in the Vertex map

Next 3 days

The forecast for this station is on its way.

16-day outlook, three models

Snowpack vs. median

—%of the 1991–2020 median for today

Nearby SNOTEL stations

All Montana
StationElevationDepth, 7 daysSWE% medianDepth48 h
Copper CampMT · 26 mi6,980 ft0.3″—1″−3″
Copper BottomMT · 29 mi5,200 ft0.0″—0″0″
Mount LockhartMT · 32 mi6,430 ft0.5″167%2″−2″
WaldronMT · 33 mi5,640 ft0.2″—0″0″
Dupuyer CreekMT · 43 mi5,740 ft0.8″—2″−4″
Nevada RidgeMT · 44 mi7,030 ft1.1″550%5″−1″
Kraft CreekMT · 45 mi4,770 ft0.0″—0″0″
North Fork Elk CreekMT · 45 mi6,180 ft0.5″—3″0″

Station details

Elevation
5,970 ft
Location
47.4485°N, 112.8143°W
County
Lewis and Clark County, Montana
Basin
Sun · HUC 10030104
Network
NRCS SNOTEL · site 876
Station ID
876:MT:SNTL · SHEF WODM8
Reporting since
October 1978
NWS forecast office
Great Falls (TFX) discussion

Questions

What is snow water equivalent (SWE)?

SWE is the depth of water you would get by melting the whole snowpack. Wood Creek's 5″ of snow holds 1.0″ of water, so the pack is about 20% water. Fresh powder is often 5 to 10%; old spring snow can be 40% or more.

How often does Wood Creek SNOTEL update?

The station reports every hour by radio telemetry to the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. This page refreshes each hour. Readings are provisional until NRCS quality control.

What does “% of median” mean?

It compares today’s SWE with the 1991–2020 median for the same calendar day at this station. Above 100% means more water in the snowpack than on a typical year’s same date.

Where is Wood Creek SNOTEL?

At 5,970 ft in Lewis and Clark County, Montana (47.4485°N, 112.8143°W), in the Sun basin.

How is the snow forecast made?

Vertex runs the HRRR, RRFS and GFS weather models at the station’s own elevation and carries the measured snowpack forward hour by hour. Treat it as guidance, and check your avalanche center’s forecast before heading out.