Inches of snow fell in south central Montana this month after a dry, sunny start to the year. Meteorologist Joe Lester with the National Weather Service said so far it’s been the third snowiest February on record for Billings with a lot of high-precipitation snow, but no snow melt.
“That means when the melt is on, there’s gonna be some issues with water,” said Lester.
Billings city street and traffic division manager Derick Miller said the city is recovering from three back-to-back storms. He said the city maxed out its residential snow plowing budget and is creeping up on its overtime budget too.
“We’re fighting this one trying to get everything all picked up and cleaned up and looks like mother nature is gonna come out in full force and try to melt a bunch of it and give us some more problems,” said Miller.
He said crews are busy hauling piles of snow out of the center of the streets to prevent them from melting and freezing into ice.
Bozeman Utilities Director Shawn Kohtz said the city is dealing with a main line that broke Tuesday night among their other winter-related challenges. He said the pipe leaked 5 million gallons before crews could plug it.
He said the city with its current budget prioritizes plowing the main streets that get the most traffic and then plows the local streets, which can take some time, especially after multiple snow events.
Kohtz said residents can check where they live in the floodplain to see how susceptible to flooding they could be. Homeowners can take precautions like clearing snow away from their stormwater grates, basement windows and gutters.
