I KNEW it was cold!

[Al Agnew]

So Mary and I got out to Montana February 5th.  We generally come out here for two or three weeks in the winter because it's fun to play in the snow, do some snowshoeing, go up into Yellowstone Park and see and photograph animals.  Usually, the weather in our part of Montana isn't much worse in the winter than it is in Missouri.  It might get a little colder at night, typically down into the single digits and minus single digits, but there are usually many days when it gets up into the 40s, and since it's DRY out here, dry cold, like dry heat, doesn't feel as bad...as long as the wind doesn't blow too much.  Typically, in a two week period I'm going to have at least a couple days when I can even go fishing without having the line freeze in my line guides all day.  And if it does get cold, it might get REALLY cold for a few days, but pretty soon it warms back up and any snow just seems to evaporate as much as melt.  

It was in the upper 40s here the couple days BEFORE we arrived.  But we got into the Bozeman airport at about 10 PM, and the temperature was already down to 3 degrees.  Coming over the pass to Livingston it got down into the minus territory.  The next morning it was minus 12.  Now...that's not too bad, but it never got out of minus territory all day.  And that went on, day after day, punctuated by a few nights when it REALLY got cold, like -28 one night and -31 the next.  In the entire next month there was exactly one day when it climbed above freezing, getting up to a balmy 34 degrees.  There were only a handfull of days when it reached the teens.  And snow...every three days or so it would snow some more for a couple of days, and that snow had no chance to melt.  We got up to about 30 inches of snow altogether.  So it was a month of mostly sitting in the house and watching the snow, watching the river almost freeze completely over, just icebergs and slush flowing, watching the steam rising from the river in the mornings, and watching our supply of wood for the woodstove disappearing--and if we'd wanted to, watching the dial spin on our electricity box, because this house, built back in the 1970s, has all electric heat other than the woodstove.

So I THOUGHT it was much colder than normal, and last Friday the local newspaper reported that it was one of, if not THE coldest February on record for Livingston, at least 17 degrees below normal on average throughout February and the first week of March.  And I just saw a headline for a national newspaper that said that Montana has just suffered through what is believed to be the coldest one month span on record.  Just when we decided to spend five weeks in Montana, of course.  It was far colder in Montana than it was in Alaska.  I didn't get to fish once.  We'll be back home in Missouri soon, and 50 degrees is going to feel great!

[snagged in outlet 3]

You didn’t miss much here, Al.  

I can’t remember a winter that I fished less than this year.  

[Seth]

It may be warming up, but the stinking rain is keeping the rivers all jacked up. 😖

[snagged in outlet 3]

18 minutes ago, Seth said:

It may be warming up, but the stinking rain is keeping the rivers all jacked up. 😖

Yep.  Every time they get to a decent level we get hammered again.  

[BilletHead]

             I hope you guys get a break. We are potentially getting up to three inches in the next two days .

BilletHead 

[Seth]

I wouldn't mind seeing that rain hit down around Beaver/Tablerock. Get those flood gates opened back up on Taneycomo!

[Quillback]

NO!  No more rain, I am tired of it.  

[laker67]

11 minutes ago, Quillback said:

NO!  No more rain, I am tired of it.  

I agree. Harv and I have been trying to find a break to head down to Pete's home water. Too much water for wading.