Snow closes many Park roads
Chris Peterson photo A wind-whipped snow lashed Glacier National Park Sunday, but this white-tailed buck in Apgar seemed to take it in stride.
Hungry Horse News
A fast moving weather system plummeted temperatures here and blasted the area with a wind-driven snow Sunday afternoon (Oct. 29) and night.
The weather made for whiteout conditions late Sunday afternoon from Kalispell to West Glacier. However, Whitefish saw little snow, which is the reverse of what usually happens.
Valley locations saw about a couple of inches of snow or less, but higher elevations saw much more - the Emery Creek Snotel site, which is a remote snow measuring station, saw about 7 inches of snow.
On the East side of Glacier National Park, Many Glacier's Snotel recorded about nine inches of snow.
Temperatures went from near 50 to the 20s. The skies cleared by Monday morning but it was cold and the roads were coated in ice, making the morning commute tricky. There were numerous slid-ins and fender benders.
The snow closed down many of Glacier Park's roads. The Going-to-the-Sun Highway is now closed down to Avalanche Creek as of presstime and at Rising Sun in St. Mary.
The Many Glacier Road closed initially, but since has reopened. The Camas Road has closed for the season and the Inside North Fork Road south of Logging Creek is closed. The Inside Road is still open to Kintla and Bowman lakes, however.
Folks can still hike, bike and ski closed roads in the Park.
The summit at Big Mountain saw about 3 inches of snow, said spokesman Brian Schott. The mountain has been making snow day and night, he said, in preparation for its Thanksgiving Day opening.