Storm brings snow, rain and flooding
<p>Cars head down Marias Pass near Skyland Road on U.S. 2 as a spring snowstorm hits the pass on June 17. The National Weather Service is predicting a foot or more of snow in the mountains and possible flooding in the valleys.</p>
Motorists traveling over Marias Pass on U.S. 2 could encounter snow this week. Heavy snow was falling as low as Snowslip on the west side of the Divide on Tuesday, June 17, about four miles below the pass. Snow also was reported around the Many Glacier Hotel on Tuesday.
The National Weather Service in Missoula forecasts total snow accumulations up to 10 to 20 inches in the higher elevations A winter weather advisory was put into effect on Tuesday until Wednesday at noon.
In Glacier National Park, snow was falling Tuesday afternoon in the Two Medicine area. Highway 49, the Looking Glass Highway, was closed from East Glacier to Kiowa Junction on Highway 89 because of water and rocks on the roadway.
The St. Mary River was expected to rise above flood stage by Tuesday and continue growing. Flood stage on the St. Mary River is 7 1/2 feet, and the forecast is for the river to crest at 8.4 feet before starting to fall on Friday.
Other east-side creeks and rivers expected to rise out of their banks include Cut Bank, Badger and Swiftcurrent creeks.
NWS issued a flood warning Tuesday afternoon for Glacier and Pondera counties. The warning is in effect until Thursday afternoon.
“Widespread heavy rains along the northern Rocky Mountain Front and in Glacier National Park are causing many streams to rise out of their banks,” NWS reported. “There have also been several reports of debris flows on hillsides.”
The Many Glacier area in Glacier Park received 2.3 inches of rain on Tuesday, and the St. Mary area received 2.85 inches. An additional 3 to 6 inches of rain is expected over the next two days.
“This is a very dangerous situation,” NWS said. “Widespread flooding and numerous mud slides or debris slides should be expected.”
Locally, the Flathead River is expected to rise above its previous peak this spring and to rapidly rise more than four feet, reaching close to the 14 foot mark before falling over the next few days after that.
Other rivers in the Flathead Valley — the Whitefish, Stillwater and Swan rivers — are expected to reach flood stage this week.
“Lowland flooding and significant ponding on area roads from Libby to Kalispell and Glacier Park is expected at times,” NWS forecasted.
The good news, according to Ray Nickless, a hydrologist with NWS in Missoula, is that cooler temperatures at elevations above 6,000 feet are causing precipitation to fall as snow while also limiting the amount of snowmelt that could otherwise contribute to low elevation flooding.
Nickless said a comparison to the 1964 Flood is not a good one because there’s not much rain right now at the higher elevations.
“In 1964, it was all rain,” he said.