Wind, snow wreaking havoc on both sides of Divide
Irrigation rigs downed a power pole along Highway 206 south of Jensen Road on Tuesday afternoon and also landed on a mail delivery car. (Chris Peterson photo)
High winds on the west side and heavy snow on the east side of the Divide were causing havoc in the Columbia Falls area Tuesday.
On the west side, high winds knocked power lines down onto a mail carrier's car on Jensen Road shortly after 1 p.m.. The woman had to stay in her car until the power was shut off. The carrier was unhurt and was able to finish her route.
High winds also knocked irrigation rigs into a power pole and knocked it over along Highway 206. Crews from Flathead Electric Co-op were on the scene at both incidents to fix the lines and the pole.
The winds also blew up great clouds of dust along Highway 206 from recently plowed fields. The dust was so thick it looked like heavy smoke. The wind had also knocked down numerous trees.
On the east side the problem was snow. Up to two feet of snow was expected from St. Mary to Many Glacier.
The snow had east side roads in Glacier closed at the boundary. The weather is expected to settle a bit by the weekend, with highs in the 50s.