Weather Bureau – Western Montana Moisture Levels Near Normal [YouTube]

After a very dry summer, moisture levels in western Montana are near normal for the middle of January.

Meteorologist Genke Keno with the National Weather Service office in Missoula provided numbers for the mountains around western Montana.

"For the Bitterroots and the Upper Clark Fork mountains we are holding as far as moisture levels go, at about 90 percent of normal, however, for the Flathead area around Kalispell it's only about 80 percent of normal," Keno said."Given that we are in an El Nino year, we do expect below average precipitation, so these era normal conditions for an El Nino year."

Keno said the amount of snow that has fallen in the Missoula area is slightly below normal, as well.