I love winter in Montana as long as the cows stay where they belong and the waterers don’t freeze. We’ve had an interesting winter this year. Usually the big storms come in February, but they started in December this year.
When we went to pick up my daughter and family at the airport in Bozeman for their annual trip home for Christmas, the thermometer on our car read this:
That is 36 below zero at 9:16 in the morning. I was impressed until we drove a little farther and it read this:
Factor in the wind, and that’s chilly.
When it snows in the mountain, we usually get new neighbors. Elk can play havoc with winter pasture and haystacks, so we like them to stay on their side of the fence. (They’re still there, a stone’s throw from the house.)
As you can see, they ignore No Trespassing signs.
The wind here is something to behold. It scrubs the pastures bare, which is great because my cows can still eat the residual alfalfa from the previous summer and not have to be fed. They are fat and sassy.
That scrubbed snow has to go somewhere, and that happens to be my driveway. Here’s a shot early one morning when, thankfully, we didn’t have to go anywhere.
And here’s the driveway after.
My dogs were no longer contained in the yard because it was easy to walk over the fence. Note how there is very little snow behind the drift.
The snow forms amazing drift patterns:
This is my back driveway before being plowed.
And this is Fiona, enjoying a little sun and waiting for the next storm to hit.
I hope everyone is having a safe winter!
Cheers!
Jeannie
Jeannie Watt raises cattle in Montana and loves all things western. When she's not writing, Jeannie enjoys sewing, making mosaic mirrors, riding her horses and buying hay. Lots and lots of hay.
It has been an odd year in Montana. It is snowing in Great Falls. As you noted, the storms have been unusual.
Definitely a strange weather year, David. I think we have La Nina to thank. Stay warm in Great Falls.
Beautiful snow photos. Snow has bypassed us this year.
I’m a touch envious, Denise. We’re having another storm…
It’s been a “wet” winter in Wyoming too this year! Stay safe!
You, too, Ami!
Thanks for sharing this. I enjoyed the comments and the photos.
Thank you, Janice.
Beautiful pictures. thanks
Thank you, Debby.
Thank you for sharing the pictures. That’s the only snow I’ll see. I live in Georgia, and we hardly ever get snow. The last big snowfall was in 1973, if that tells you anything.
That’s a long time between snows. 🙂
I really enjoyed the pictures. I’m going to show my kids, they’ll love it.
In NC we didn’t have much of a winter. Except it was REALLY cold right before Christmas. At least cold for us, heat wave for you. ? Kids wish we could have had snow at least once.
Snow is so cool in areas that don’t often get it–except when driving, of course. It was a weird, cold December almost everywhere. I’ve never been to NC, but I’ve seen photos and it’s beautiful.
We got about a foot of snow last week. The storm today could by pass us all together. It has been a crazy winter for all of the country.
It has indeed been weird, Kim.
Jeannie, your pictures are stunning! All those elk – my goodness! And those drifts are amazing! I think I’d just stare and stare at them if they were in my driveway.
Good for you for documenting Mother Nature. Something to behold, for sure!
Thank you, Pam. I never thought I’d hear myself say, “I wish the elk would go away.” 🙂
Beautiful pictures!
Thank you!
Snow can be beautiful, especially drifts. The not so nice part is having to clear the paths for cars and/or people. We live in KY so ours has been very cold and lots of rain. Only enough snow to cover the ground a bit but gone in a few days which was because of the very cold temps, no way it would melt.
That probably makes driving a challenge. Wet followed by cold is never good.
We have had a mixture of everything this winter, a big storm at Christmas holidays, then rain and freezing rain and winds like yesterday when even Mary Poppins would not chance try to fly away. And today we are back at snow and getting freezing rain warmings at the same time. Oh how I cannot wait for spring to come to Southern Ontario..
That sounds like quite a weather mashup, Kathleen. Yes, spring is looking good.
Oh, I LOVE your pictures!! I’m a native Floridian and still haven’t seen snow!! I went to Texas for Christmas in 2021, and they had a white Christmas in 2020, but not while I was there!! And, we’re in the mid 80’s for high’s here this week, with some parts of Central Florida pushing closer to 90, and at 90 or higher tomorrow and Friday!!!
Thank you, Trudy. I hope you do get to see snow someday, but in nice manageable amounts. Your weather sounds lovely.
Interesting and beautiful photos…especially love the ones showing the drifting! Just gorgeous.
Thank you, Rachel.
Good morning, Wow,I have never, ever been anywhere where the snow gets like this! I live in west Texas and we get very little snow. Last year we did get the ice storm which was not fun at all. Thank you for sharing your beautiful photos. That is alot of elk. Have a great day and stay warm. God Bless you and your family.
Thank you, Alicia. I’ve heard about west Texas ice storms, They sound like no fun at all.
Wow, what cold and snowy weather you have! I don’t think I could survive in it, I’m used to living in eastern N.C. with much milder weather, I think I will stay here. I have always thought I would like to visit Montana though, it is so pretty. If I do, I will make sure it’s in your hottest month!
Montana is beautiful, and usually the weather is wonderful in the summer and early fall. I hope you get to visit.
Beautiful pictures! Drifts can be so beautiful. Fortunately our driveway did not look like that this year. Every ten years or so it does. The rest of the winters are more like this year with only 3 or 4 inches from the worst storms. We did have snow cover when the zero and below temperatures came so we are hoping the winter wheat and triticale survive. Today has brought us horizontal snow, more wind than snow, and only two or three days of really cold temps if the forecast is right. I am ready for spring!
Alice, this is the first year we got drifts in this location. The wind came from a different direction this year, so our usual drift spots were clear and we got new drift areas. Go figure.
glad you are safely home. such wonderful pictures. those snow drifts are so cool. nature is amazing. right now we are getting freezing rain. everything has a sheet of ice on it. it is supposed to last all night.
Nature is amazing, Lori. I really enjoy it from inside my house looking out. 😉
Jeannie, your pictures are so gorgeous. I love the snow but we don’t get much of it in Texas and what we do get is usually gone the next day. Take care and stay warm!
Thank you, Linda. I have family in Austin, and I think I’d take the drifts over the ice storms. My goodness but those were destructive.
Beautiful pictures, Jeannie! No matter where we live there is some kind of beauty around us, isn’t there? I’m in Oklahoma and really do love it here–beautiful sunsets and sunrises! I really enjoyed these pics! We have ice storms here–more so than snow–and I’m so glad I can just stay home and build a fire.
Home with a fire sigh. On a side note, my great-greats were literal Sooners. Buried in Pond Creek. Someday I hope to visit.
Isn’t it weird to think our ancestors might have known one another? I love stuff like that.
We have had a mild winter so far here and I like it like that.
I hope it continues! 🙂
Thank You for sharing the Beautiful pictures! We have had a rainy winter this year not much snow Have a Blessed day!
Thank you, Sarah!
The mountains are beautiful! It’s way too cold for me though. I live in Kentucky where it gets cold/icy or it can get to 60’s or 70’s the next day!
Thank you for sharing the fabulous pictures. The drifts are amazing. Please stay safe. God bless you.
The drifts are beautiful. It shows how, on a bigger scale, avalanche hazards are formed. I grew up on the Canadian border in NE New York. It got cold, but rarely dropped quite that low. I can remember being out at 10 or 11 at night shoveling a drifted in driveway so our dad could get in when he came home from work. I definitely do not miss that. We lived in northern Maine near the Canadian border for a time. It got bitterly cold there, it was 55 below one night when I got home. We even saw the northern lights one night. Other than a moose sometimes wandering onto the base, no herds of animals looking for food.
Thanks so much for sharing the pictures of your “winter wonderland.”
Beautiful photo’s Jeannie. Thanks for sharing! Haven’t had much snow in CT at all yet this year.