Montana Counties

MONTANA · 56 COUNTIES TRACKED DAILY

Montana Counties

Live snowpack, drought, streamflow, soil moisture, rainfall, and forage outlook — for every county in Montana, refreshed each morning.

Use this page to:
  • Click your county on the Montana map just below to open its full conditions dashboard.
  • Or use the Western / Central / Eastern buttons beneath the map to narrow the list to one region.
  • Or type a county name into the search box to jump straight to that county.
Updated every morning at 5:30 AM Mountain · sources: NRCS AWDB, USDM, USGS NWIS, MT Mesonet, and NOAA NCEI

Where it’s worst this week

Highest stress

The four counties with the lowest Forage Scores as of the latest refresh. Click any card for the full conditions dashboard.

Garfield
Forage 24D4
no SNOTEL
Powder River
Forage 26D4
no SNOTEL
Fallon
Forage 27D3
no SNOTEL
Carter
Forage 28D3
no SNOTEL

Statewide forage outlook

All 56 counties at a glance. Color reflects Forage Score; hover any county for its score and drought class; click to open the county page. Map projected to a Montana-fit equirectangular — the shape is true to county geometry, not a stylized graphic.

Garfield County — Forage 24/100 · D4Liberty County — Forage 40/100 · D2 Golden Valley County — Forage 41/100 · D2 Beaverhead County — Forage 68/100 · D0 Wheatland County — Forage 44/100 · D2 Lewis and Clark County — Forage 62/100 · D0 Ravalli County — Forage 71/100 · D0 Flathead County — Forage 74/100 · D0 Sanders County — Forage 74/100 · D0 Petroleum County — Forage 32/100 · D3 Broadwater County — Forage 56/100 · D1 Musselshell County — Forage 38/100 · D2 Wibaux County — Forage 28/100 · D3 Richland County — Forage 37/100 · D2 Roosevelt County — Forage 38/100 · D2 Phillips County — Forage 35/100 · D2 Yellowstone County — Forage 42/100 · D2 Meagher County — Forage 49/100 · D2 Custer County — Forage 31/100 · D3 Powder River County — Forage 26/100 · D4 Lincoln County — Forage 76/100 · D0 Gallatin County — Forage 59/100 · D1 Jefferson County — Forage 64/100 · D0 Judith Basin County — Forage 50/100 · D1 Teton County — Forage 51/100 · D1 Mineral County — Forage 73/100 · D0 Deer Lodge County — Forage 72/100 · D0 Silver Bow County — Forage 65/100 · D0 Madison County — Forage 66/100 · D0 Fallon County — Forage 27/100 · D3 Carter County — Forage 28/100 · D3 Hill County — Forage 43/100 · D2 Fergus County — Forage 46/100 · D2 Chouteau County — Forage 44/100 · D2 McCone County — Forage 30/100 · D3 Valley County — Forage 35/100 · D2 Treasure County — Forage 31/100 · D3 Stillwater County — Forage 55/100 · D1 Lake County — Forage 71/100 · D0 Missoula County — Forage 69/100 · D0 Powell County — Forage 67/100 · D0 Glacier County — Forage 52/100 · D1 Rosebud County — Forage 32/100 · D3 Sweet Grass County — Forage 53/100 · D2 Pondera County — Forage 47/100 · D1 Daniels County — Forage 36/100 · D2 Park County — Forage 51/100 · D2 Prairie County — Forage 29/100 · D3 Big Horn County — Forage 34/100 · D3 Dawson County — Forage 33/100 · D3 Blaine County — Forage 42/100 · D2 Toole County — Forage 39/100 · D2 Sheridan County — Forage 40/100 · D2 Granite County — Forage 70/100 · D0 Carbon County — Forage 60/100 · D1 Cascade County — Forage 48/100 · D1 GarfieldLibertyGolden ValleyBeaverheadWheatlandLewis and ClarkRavalliFlatheadSandersPetroleumBroadwaterMusselshellWibauxRichlandRooseveltPhillipsYellowstoneMeagherCusterPowder RiverLincolnGallatinJeffersonJudith BasinTetonMineralDeer LodgeSilver BowMadisonFallonCarterHillFergusChouteauMcConeValleyTreasureStillwaterLakeMissoulaPowellGlacierRosebudSweet GrassPonderaDanielsParkPrairieBig HornDawsonBlaineTooleSheridanGraniteCarbonCascade
Forage Score0–25 Poor26–50 Fair51–75 Good76–100 Excellent

Geometry: U.S. Census Bureau Cartographic Boundaries, 2017 edition, simplified for web display.

Western Montana 15 counties

Beaverhead D0
68 /100
Snowpack 92%
Deer Lodge D0
72 /100
Snowpack 105%
Flathead D0
74 /100
Snowpack 108%
Granite D0
70 /100
Snowpack 102%
Jefferson D0
64 /100
Snowpack 88%
Lake D0
71 /100
Snowpack 99%
Lewis and Clark D0
62 /100
Snowpack 84%
Lincoln D0
76 /100
Snowpack 112%
Madison D0
66 /100
Snowpack 95%
Mineral D0
73 /100
Snowpack 106%
Missoula D0
69 /100
Snowpack 97%
Powell D0
67 /100
Snowpack 93%
Ravalli D0
71 /100
Snowpack 101%
Sanders D0
74 /100
Snowpack 109%
Silver Bow D0
65 /100
Snowpack 90%

Central Montana 23 counties

Blaine D2
42 /100
No SNOTEL
Broadwater D1
56 /100
Snowpack 78%
Carbon D1
60 /100
Snowpack 86%
Cascade D1
48 /100
Snowpack 70%
Chouteau D2
44 /100
No SNOTEL
Fergus D2
46 /100
No SNOTEL
Gallatin D1
59 /100
Snowpack 82%
Glacier D1
52 /100
Snowpack 76%
Golden Valley D2
41 /100
No SNOTEL
Hill D2
43 /100
No SNOTEL
Judith Basin D1
50 /100
Snowpack 72%
Liberty D2
40 /100
No SNOTEL
Meagher D2
49 /100
Snowpack 58%
Musselshell D2
38 /100
No SNOTEL
Park D2
51 /100
Snowpack 30%
Petroleum D3
32 /100
No SNOTEL
Phillips D2
35 /100
No SNOTEL
Pondera D1
47 /100
Snowpack 68%
Stillwater D1
55 /100
Snowpack 80%
Sweet Grass D2
53 /100
Snowpack 64%
Teton D1
51 /100
Snowpack 74%
Toole D2
39 /100
No SNOTEL
Wheatland D2
44 /100
No SNOTEL

Eastern Montana 18 counties

Big Horn D3
34 /100
No SNOTEL
Carter D3
28 /100
No SNOTEL
Custer D3
31 /100
No SNOTEL
Daniels D2
36 /100
No SNOTEL
Dawson D3
33 /100
No SNOTEL
Fallon D3
27 /100
No SNOTEL
Garfield D4
24 /100
No SNOTEL
McCone D3
30 /100
No SNOTEL
Powder River D4
26 /100
No SNOTEL
Prairie D3
29 /100
No SNOTEL
Richland D2
37 /100
No SNOTEL
Roosevelt D2
38 /100
No SNOTEL
Rosebud D3
32 /100
No SNOTEL
Sheridan D2
40 /100
No SNOTEL
Treasure D3
31 /100
No SNOTEL
Valley D2
35 /100
No SNOTEL
Wibaux D3
28 /100
No SNOTEL
Yellowstone D2
42 /100
No SNOTEL
No counties match your search. Try a shorter name or clear the filter.

What we measure · by source

Every county page pulls from five independent public data sources. Coverage varies by what each source actually measures — we report unavailable fields as “not available” rather than fabricating data.

USDM Drought
56 / 56
All counties · D0–D4 weekly
NOAA Precip Anomaly
56 / 56
All counties · 1, 3, 12-mo
USGS Streamflow
51 / 56
No gauge: Carter, Fallon, Garfield, Prairie, Wibaux
MT Mesonet Soil
37 / 56
Shallow + deep VWC
NRCS SNOTEL
26 / 56
Mountain counties · SWE + WY precip
Pipeline. Pulled daily at 5:30 AM Mountain via automated jobs from NRCS AWDB, USDA Drought Monitor, USGS Water Services, Montana Mesonet (UM Climate Office), and NOAA NCEI Climate at a Glance. When a source is unavailable for a county, the dashboard shows that field as “not available” rather than omitting it — so you always know what’s measured and what isn’t.
Methods & glossary · reading the county pages
Forage Score
0–100 composite that blends snowpack, soil moisture, and drought into one rancher-facing number. Categories: 0–25 Poor, 26–50 Fair, 51–75 Good, 76–100 Excellent. Higher = better expected grazing-season forage. Currently computed primarily from snowpack percent-of-median; rangeland-scientist review of the composite formula is planned.
SWE · Snow Water Equivalent
Inches of liquid water in the snowpack — if you melted the snow at a SNOTEL station today, this is how much water you’d get. Higher SWE = more water stored for spring runoff and irrigation.
% of Median
Today’s value vs. the historical median for this calendar date. NRCS uses the median (not the mean) so a single wet or dry year doesn’t skew the baseline. Below 70% = below normal; above 110% = above normal.
SNOTEL
Snow Telemetry — NRCS-operated mountain weather stations. Montana has 96 active sites concentrated in the western and south-central counties. Plains counties without SNOTEL report “No SNOTEL” rather than displaying fabricated data.
D0–D4 · Drought class
U.S. Drought Monitor: D0 abnormally dry, D1 moderate, D2 severe, D3 extreme, D4 exceptional. The percentage shown on each county page tells you what fraction of the county area is at or worse than each band — a county can be 100% at D1 with 0% at D3.
VWC · Volumetric Water Content
The percent of soil volume that is water, measured by Montana Mesonet soil-moisture probes at shallow (5–10 cm) and deep (50–100 cm) profiles. Higher VWC = wetter soil. Useful early indicator of pasture green-up potential and drought stress.
CFS · Streamflow
Cubic Feet per Second — the standard unit for river discharge. Each county page reports the current value from its principal in-county USGS gauge, alongside a day-of-year percentile.
Percentile (streamflow)
50 = exactly typical for this calendar date. 19 = today’s flow is lower than 81% of all readings ever recorded for this date. 81 = lower than only 19%.
Precip Anomaly
Inches above or below the 10-year normal for trailing windows ending today (1-month, 3-month, 12-month). Not the water year — the Water-Year Precip tile on each county page is the water-year measure.
Water year
Hydrology runs Oct 1 → Sep 30. Most of a year’s snowpack accumulation is captured in the same season it melts.
BE-10
Montana Department of Livestock brand-inspection form for cattle. Recorded at change of ownership or interstate movement, so totals reflect transactions, not the standing herd.
Range Tools for Ranchers

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