PPL Montana monitoring low snowpack affecting Flathead Lake

A low mountain snowpack is affecting the elevation of Flathead Lake, as PPL Montana manages the outflows at its Kerr hydroelectric facility to account for the conditions.

PPL Montana has kept the lake elevation higher, in coordination with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, than a normal year would warrant. The April final runoff forecast for Flathead Lake prepared by the National Weather Service is 66 percent of average, which has decreased from 70 percent in March 2010.

The current snow pack is 77 percent of average for this time of year, compared with 92 percent at this time in 2009. The natural stream flow for March was about 83 percent of average. Present estimates project the lake elevation to be about 2892.20 feet by June15 and 2892.85 feet by June 30, while staying on authorized minimum outflows. The goal is to reach to the full pool elevation of 2,893 feet.

• Click here for the Flathead Lake elevation at Polson.
   
• Click here for the plant outflow levels on the Flathead River at Polson.