Downpour floods Lake McDonald Lodge lobby

Glacier National Park’s Lake McDonald Lodge saw flooding in the lobby Sunday evening after thunderstorms dropped heavy rain on the 100-plus-year-old structure.

Park spokesman Tim Rains said the storm inundated storm drains near the lodge and the water seeped under the doors into the lobby. At times, it was about an inch deep.

The lobby was closed and staff used shop vacuums to suck up the water, said Glacier National Park Lodges General Manager Marc Ducharme. Flood Co., a Kalispell restoration company, also came in and helped with the cleanup and worked into the night to clean things up, Rains said.

No rooms were closed as a result of the flooding, though carpets were soaked. Most of the guest rooms are in the upper floor of the structure.

A rain gauge in West Glacier recorded nearly a half-inch of rain in less than an hour from the storm.

The lodge just saw $3 million in renovations this year, with remodeled rooms and new furniture.

Parkwide thunderstorms were numerous with heavy rains, though there were no reports of road damage. A lightning strike caused a small fire near the Cascadilla River access in the Middle Fork, but it was out.

Glacier had another small lightning-caused fire near the Camas Creek trail up the North Fork last week prior to Sunday’s storm. That fire was being allowed to smolder, if rain hasn’t already put it out.

The weather this week is expected to return to sunny skies by week’s end with highs in the 70s and 80s in Glacier.