Powder River Examiner -

2023 marked a wetter than average year for Broadus, though the same story was not true throughout the area.

The first months of 2023 had near normal totals through April, then a fairly dry April and May, transitioning to a June and July which saw ranchers struggling to put up hay in a timely manner due to all the rain. Fall precip stayed around average, and the last major shot of moisture came via snowstorm just before Halloween, with November and December being very dry (Broadus received only 0.09" of moisture as snow in December), and very warm.

Broadus was nearly an inch ahead of average on precipitation for 2023, with 15.90" of moisture for the year. The average is 14.92".

Temps in Broadus during December were downright warm, with temps hitting 60 in the first week of the year, and only dipping down to 5 on the morning of New Year's Eve. The 57 degree high on December 21st was a record high for that date.

The 32.9 degree monthly average temp was the third highest average December recording in the record books, only behind 1999 with a 33.1 degree high, and 1939 at 33.6.

That above average monthly temperature meant the open waters of the county were slow to freeze. The Powder River at Broadus flirted with freezing several times over the past couple months, but didn't freeze solid until December 30th, and even then the ice is thin, full of open floes, and unsafe to cross.

Looking at accumulated yearly precipitation for weather stations around the county presented a mixed bag, with some stations near or below average, and some significantly above average. 2023 was certainly a year of varied moisture across the area.

The Biddle 8 miles SW station was slightly below the long term average for moisture, with 14.90" in 2023, compared to a long term average of 15.25". Their highest amount in a year was 1971, with 22.0".

Meanwhile, the Moorhead 9 miles NE station had a similar yearly total to the Biddle station with 15.10", but it fell above the long term average of 13.05" for the station, which is normally drier than the high country between the Powder and the Little Powder.

The Sonnette 7 miles SW station won the unofficial precipitation award for NOAA sites in the area, with 20.01" of moisture in 2023. That station normally receives a bit more moisture than many in the area, with a yearly average of 15.91".

Volborg received 12.34" of precipitation in 2023.

Yearly precipitation in 2023 at the Powderville 8 miles NNE station was 13.72". The normal is 15.02". The highest recorded precip total for a year was 2011, with 21.23". The lowest was difficult to decipher at many of these stations, as the NOAA site doesn't tabulate totals if no data was input, and on months that had no precipitation at many of these stations, no data was input. Still, without going through each year of un-tabulated data at each station, some hypotheses may be made. For example, in the terrible drought year of 1988, there were numerous months and multiple locations with no precip data.

Snowfall at the Powderville station for 2023 was 31", just ahead of the long term average of 29.9". The record for highest snowfall at that station was 2018, which featured such a terrible late winter and early spring. In that year, the 29.9" total was surpassed by February 12th, and by April 25th nearly 60" had accumulated. The total that year was 70.5" of measurable snowfall.