New Montana Mesonet station constructed
Will bring up to date weather information to the CSKT Bison Range
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News from the CSKT
FLATHEAD RESERVATION — The CSKT Bison Range and the Montana Climate Office are pleased to announce the construction of a new Montana Mesonet weather station behind the CSKT Bison Range Visitor Center.
This cooperative collaboration — funded by the Native Drought Resilience project through a grant by NOAA’s National Integrated Drought Information System — will bring updated information to the Flathead Reservation’s Natural Resources Department and the agricultural community to help support both rangeland and conservation management.
The new 30 foot tower is self-contained, powered through a solar panel and communicates via cellular connection. The footprint is 20 feet by 30 feet with no permanent construction (concrete) and is anchored by a large ground screw system.
The Mesonet station records temperature, precipitation, relative humidity, solar radiation, soil moisture at depths down to a meter, and snow depth. Environmental information updated every five minutes.
This station will improve weather, soil moisture, and snow pack monitoring across the Flathead Reservation and will be available to both professional resource managers and interested valley producers via an internet portal at: https://mesonet.climate.umt.edu/dash/
The station not only will assist Bison Range managers and help meet CSKT’s climate resilience goals, but also will help inform the surrounding valley residents with the up-to-date information and planning for each year’s agricultural season.
Soon to come, educational signage will be placed on the walking path behind the Bison Range Visitor Center to explain what the station does and its importance for meeting the Tribes’ future planning goals.
For more information, please contact Shannon Clairmont at shannon.clairmont@cskt.org or Kyle Bocinsky at kyle.bocinksy@umt.edu.
