Recent and future pulses of moisture from the Pacific Ocean could give ranchers a break with a "greenup" of rangeland over much - but not all - of Wyoming, said Jan Curtis, state climatologist.

"We're not going to see much impact on reservoir levels," Curtis warned, "but the benefit we could see is a 'greenup' of rangeland if we get more precipitation in April." He emphasized that a greenup could occur in the western half of the state, particularly in the lower basins.

Unfortunately, he said, the long-range forecast is for a warm and dry April, so the greenup might not last.

"The best thing that can be said about the St. Patrick's Day storm is that it is keeping the drought from getting worse," he said.

Nevertheless, Curtis said he was "cautiously optimistic" for the state's rangelands and ranchers, but not for farmers who rely either on continuing precipitation or irrigation. Shallow soil moisture has improved, he said, noting that Torrington measures 9 percent soil moisture in the first 20 inches, but only 3 percent at the 40-inches-deep mark.

"I'm anticipating a normal spring, when what we need is an abnormally wet spring," Curtis said.

Conditions vary regionally

Some cooperative extension service agents around Wyoming agree with Curtis that a greenup is coming. Platte County's Dallas Mount, based in Wheatland, agreed that a greenup will be coming on with additional April moisture and sunshine.

"We're even seeing stream flow improve," he said, referring to Horse and Cottonwood creeks. Yet Mount is not hopeful for rising reservoir levels - those are down and are expected to stay down. Shallow soil moisture, however, is looking better after the melt off of St. Patrick Day snows. "We didn't have much wind, so the snow actually soaked into the ground," he said.

Crook County's Gene Gade, based in Sundance, said he concurs with Curtis' forecast for greener rangeland.

"The last couple months we've had storms that have pretty much brought us close to normal for this time of year. The only question is whether that's sustainable all through summer," Gade said.

Crook County didn't get much out of the St. Patrick's Day storm, but it had enough snow this winter to recharge soil moisture - "Enough to carry us through April, though what we need is enough to get us through June," he added.

Big Horn County's Troy Cooper, based in Basin, said "I can see a green tinge out there, just driving around." Tucked into the little draws and dry stream courses are little sprigs of emergent growth, he said.

"I don't think we're out of the woods with this drought, but we're seeing more soil moisture this time of year than last," Cooper said. While ranchers can look forward to some forage this spring, he said, farmers are in a holding pattern

"We're going to have to wait and see how April goes," he said. He speculated that alfalfa growers will get at least one cutting this year, but it is too early to tell for seed growers.

Rain helps too

"Conditions are real different out here," said Lincoln County's Hudson Hill, based in Afton.

Precipitation amounts vary wildly in Hill's county, with the Star Valley's water basin close to 100 percent of normal precipitation, thanks to some unusual rain showers this winter.

"We had such a good January that I'm optimistic about our irrigation season," Hill said. The area looks low on government snow-water equivalency charts, but those don't account for rain.

Further south and over in the Kemmerer area, precipitation levels are still pretty low, Hill said. Herd size for grazing allotments will likely be cut, he worries.

Natrona County's Tom Heald, based in Casper, called the St. Patrick's Day storm "much more than a million dollar event." Whether it is measured along agronomic, range health or urban tree lines, last week's storm was invaluable, Heald said.

"That was a storm you could take to the bank," he said.

Native grasses and forbs are highly responsive to moisture, so Heald is confident they'll grow as temperatures rise. The down side is that heavily grazed plants won't bounce back fully in one growing season.

"They need rest," Heald said, predicting that the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and its permittees will be figuring out what pastures need rest in the days and weeks to come.