[DL] RE: Montana

["Cort Jensen" <Gomorra@email.msn.com>]

Montana has some of the most varied weather and geography in the U.S.  It is
big state (4th biggest).  It has the rocky mountains in the west and
badlands and plains in the east.  In the center are smaller mountain ranges
and high buttes.  The weather is seasonal (3 months of each a year) but
prone to rapid random changes "if you dont like the weather wait 15 minutes"
is a common expression.   Severe winters happen often killiing cattle and
men.  Drought is very common leading to sevre forest fires and grass fires.
The Mountain valleys of the (center) west are actually fairly nice weather
speaking, but make sure you are talking about a town in a vally like
Missola, and not a mining town on top of a mountain like Garnet, Bannack, or
Rimini.  Montana is known for is chinoks (random warm winds)  it is a stange
wind in the middle of winter that is so warm it melts the snow as it blows.
Eastern Montana has severe hailstorms (big and hard enouph to kill)
frequently (once every other year in some parts.  Hail (or any other
percipatation) often comes out of a blue sky.   Perciptation (snow, rain) is
usually low all over and severely low the further east and north you go
(desert like around Glendive, Circle, Jordan, Terry-badland geography though
with two big rivers near by).  West is dominated by mining (copper, gold,
silver, gemstones, and in modern times "asbestos and uranium" along with
timbering.  East is cattle, sheep, and horses (for slaughter not riding) and
some dry land farming.