Playoff game will seen rain, cold

Spectators going to the Columbia Falls football game will have to contend with rain Saturday and cold. The National Weather Service is predicting the heaviest rain should fall tomorrow from noon until 6 p.m., with a quarter inch of rain possible by the end of the afternoon.

There will also be a raw wind and cold temperatures in the 40s.

All told, the weather system should bring about a half-inch to three-quarters inch of rain to Columbia Falls and upwards of 2.5 inches of rain to Glacier National Park. Snow levels will be about 7,000 feet over the weekend, but will lower to valley floors by early next week, with snow showers Sunday night and Monday and highs in the 30s.

Snow levels above 8,500 feet are expected to be about a foot.

The heaviest rains will be on the Montana-Idaho border, where upwards of 6 inches of rain could fall, as the jet stream shifts directly over Northwest Montana, bringing storms from the Pacific. The rain is welcome. Rivers and streams are at all-time record lows after an extended drought over the past nine months.

The Columbia Falls playoff game against Polson is scheduled for 1 p.m. in Columbia Falls.