Sunny, with a High of 50

What a difference a year makes.

By this time last November the ground was covered with snow. It didn’t bare off for more than five months.

Today it’s sunny and 50 degrees with more of the same in the extended forecast.

Sunny and warm is hard to complain about, but sunny and warm in Montana this time of year never bodes well. We live with the ever-looming specter of drought.

Last year’s bountiful snowpack and spring rains hardly got us through July before it all dried up once again. The stock ponds that were brim full in June were empty by September. The green that covered the landscape at the start of summer quickly vanished as the grass yellowed and died.

If you don’t farm, ranch, fish or hunt it probably doesn’t make much difference. Warm and dry is what most people like. It’s easier. That’s why so many Montanans head to Arizona for the winter.

Last year there was reason to leave. Although the planet was experiencing the hottest 12 months ever recorded, Montana was going through an old-fashioned winter with frigid temperatures and unrelenting snow.

Last month’s storm that covered the state with snow and brought in below-zero temps was soon forgotten when the snow melted. The only evidence remaining was the blackened leaves still hanging on the trees.

It’s about this time of year when the hunters begin to complain. There hasn’t been enough snow to drive the elk down to lower elevations where they become easier prey.

The ski areas in the state, which always tease about opening early following the first major storm in the fall, grow quiet when the weather warms and the snow falls elsewhere.

Ice fishermen, who pray for early ice, are left with little to do other than oil their augers and wait for a cold spell.

It will get cold and it will snow. After all, this is Montana, but how long it lasts is of great importance. Early winters begat late springs and vice versa. Shirtsleeve weather in November in recent years has tended to result in wimpy winters.

It’s more than 10 years since we had a good one. We’re due for another. This year, however, isn’t shaping up that way. And with all due respect to those folks convinced our weather is controlled by the government or aliens, there isn’t really anything we can do about it.

Parker Heinlein is at [email protected]