Rain - and snow - hits the area

Much-needed precipitation finally hit the area, including some snow Saturday and Sunday, although probably not enough to make much of a dent in the drought conditions here.

The reporting station at the Havre City-County Airport recorded an inch-and-a-third of precipitation from Friday through Sunday along with colder temperature.

Although Havre did not receive several inches of snow as was in early forecasts, snow did fall late Saturday and Sunday, although Weather Service reports only a trace recorded.

In Havre, the low hit 24 degrees after midnight, Weather Service reports, after hitting a high of 36 degrees.

But no more precipitation is in the Weather Service forecast for this region through Sunday, with lows expected to keep dropping below freezing through Wednesday, when they creep back to about 32 degrees, and highs expected to be in the 40s through Thursday, after which they are predicted to hit into the 50s.

The rainfall has helped with the moisture shortage, though it still is not nearly enough.

The 1.48 inches reported at the station at the Havre airport puts Havre almost nine-tenths of an inch more than normal from Oct. 1 through Oct. 23, with the same for the water year that starts Oct. 1.

But for the year, Havre still is more than 2 inches short from Jan. 1 through Oct. 23.

For the year, Havre has recorded 8.42 inches with the normal value 10.77 inches, 2.35 inches short

And over several years, the water deficit just increases following several years of drought.

The latest data available, Oct. 16 before the precipitation fell over the weekend, shows the normal accumulation from Jan. 1, 2020, to that date at 34.27 inches, with the actual accumulation at 24.15 inches.

Even with the one-and-a-third inches that fell over the weekend, Havre is still at more than 9 inches of moisture deficit in the past three years.