Heavy rain expected this weekend; should stem wildfires
A double rainbow over the Flathead River in Columbia Falls in this file photo. Heavy rain is expected this weekend.
Sick of the smoke from area wildfires? Relief is on its way, the National Weather Service is reporting. A significant rain event is expected Saturday night, with a predicted .9 inch of rain from Saturday evening into Sunday.
As such, the Weather Service has issued a flash flood warning “especially for wildfire burn scars and urban areas.”
There’s about a 50 percent chance of thunderstorms starting Friday in the Flathead Valley, but the heaviest rain should come Saturday into Sunday, the Weather Service told the Hungry Horse News.
The moisture is coming from the remnants of tropical storm Gil, they said, which is streaming up from the California coast.
The rain is expected to be a “season slowing event” for wildfires, though a more active and rainy weather period is expected for the next couple of weeks.
Wildfire season could start up again in late August or September if it dries out like it did in July, the Weather Service notes.