I Really Need This, NOT!

<a href="http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2007/03/28/news/local/30-storm.txt" >High winds, deep snow forecast for wide area</a><br />n<br />n<blockquote>Beginning today, a two-day winter storm is expected to bring a dramatic turn in the weather – in the form of 12 to 18 inches of snow for residents from Livingston to Miles City. Winds between 20 to 35 mph are also expected.<br />n<br />n"We're looking at some pretty severe weather," said Scott Carpenter of the National Weather Service.</blockquote><br />n<br />nI keep hearing people say we need the moisture but I don't think we need it this way. I personally would like to see some warm weather to grow some grass, not get no moisture but it's not up to me to decide. With calving going on the last thing I need is 12-24" of heavy, wet snow to stress my calves and kill some of them. It's going to get rough around here that's for sure.<br />n<br />nMy Darling Wife and kids are moving to town so that school can continue and to be safe from any problems like power outages out here. This is a normal precaution we take with severe weather around here and it usually happens once a year. It can get damn difficult to get out of the place in bad weather and the school does not allow kids to miss school for such reasons and only allows 2 such absences, unexcused, before they will take drastic actions against the students and parents.<br />n<br />nThey keep comparing this storm to the April 3-4, 1955 storm which dumped 4 feet of heavy wet snow in the area. Believe me, this is not what we need around here. Some words from the <a href="http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/byz">Billings National Weather Service site</a>.<br />n<br />n<blockquote>TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATIONS OF 12 TO 20 INCHES<br />nARE EXPECTED BY THURSDAY AFTERNOON. LOCALLY HEAVIER AMOUNTS OF UP<br />nTO 30 INCHES WILL BE POSSIBLE IN HIGHER ELEVATED LOCATIONS. SNOW<br />nDRIFTS OF 3 TO 6 FEET WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE IN AREAS.<br />n<br />nTHE HEAVY WET SNOW WILL TRANSLATE INTO SIGNIFICANT LIQUID<br />nPRECIPITATION AMOUNTS IN EXCESS OF 3 INCHES.<br />n<br />nWITH A TWO DAY<br />n TOTAL FORECAST OF 16 INCHES FOR BILLINGS…WHICH MAY BE<br />n CONSERVATIVE…THIS STORM WOULD RANK AMONG THE TOP 5 BILLINGS<br />n SPRING SNOWSTORMS AND TOP 10 STORMS OVERALL FOR TWO DAY SNOWFALL<br />n TOTALS.</blockquote><br />n<br />nNot what we need. The damned thing is there is not much I can do for the cattle to help with this storm, I can't provide them with shelter or much help at all. They will manage on their own but I do worry and I will have some losses. I have been feeding close to some brush and draws that provide some shelter from such a storm but I can't force the cattle to use it. A cow that is wanting to calve usually leaves the herd to calve by herself. In this situation that means moving to a less protected area to have her calf and risk losing it in an area that doesn't have as much protection. If she stays in the good protection where the cows are at she risk having the calf stomped to death by the other cows that are milling around the area. It makes for a tough situation. If I go out to help, the cow will continue to move before calving and try to find a place where I can't find her. This leads to having it out in the open by accident and losing it for sure. This all sure leaves me in a real bind.<br />n<br />nThen consider the calves that are all ready born. The cold, wet snow lasting for two days stresses them which lowers their resistance to disease and sets off an outbreak of scours, guaranteed. With the extended forecast I will be battling this problem for quite a while. If I am lucky I will have no death loss due to scours but it can happen.<br />n<br />nThis is not the kind of moisture we need. A slow, warm rain of about an inch <u>might</u> be useful but 2 feet or better of heavy wet snow is a disaster waiting to happen for me. It's Montana though, you take what you can get.<br />n<br />n<strong>If you think about disaster, you will get it. Brood about death and you hasten your demise. Think positively and masterfully, with confidence and faith, and life becomes more secure, more fraught with action, richer in achievement and experience. Swami Vivekananda</strong>