Yellowstone National Park closes due to floods; Glacier Park doing OK so far
River's Edge Park in Columbia Falls saw some minor flooding Monday morning. Crews pulled out the benches last week so they wouldn't be washed away. (JP Edge photo)
Yellowstone National Park temporarily closed all of its entrances Monday due to flooding and mudslides in the park.
Closer to home, Glacier National Park hasn’t seen any major flooding, though some areas have closed and the popular Avalanche Lake Trail is closed due to high water, park spokeswoman Gina Kerzman said.
In addition, the Inside North Fork Road is closed between Logging and Camas Creek due to flooding and the road to Kintla Lake is closed at the head of Big Prairie due to flooding.
The Quarter Circle Bridge Road is also closed due to flooding. On the east side, the trail from St. Mary Visitor Center to the campground is closed by flooding and the Loop A in the St. Mary campground is closed because of high water.
There is a flood warning up for the mainstem Flathead River, though the National Weather Service is predicting it will remain relatively minor. The mainstem river reached 14.5 feet Monday, which means that some farmers' fields adjacent to the river could see flooding.
At 16 feet and above, some homes close to the river could see flooding from Columbia Falls to Kalispell. At 16.1 feet an RV Park and campground in Evergreen could see flooding. The historic flood of 1964 saw the river crest at 19.5 feet.
Glacier Park and the Flathead Valley has seen heavy rain since Friday, though Sunday was a bit drier than expected.
West Glacier since Friday has seen about 3 inches of rain on an above-normal snowpack which built up after an unusually cold spring. The Flathead River Basin snowpack is currently 181% of average, however the numbers are a bit skewed — the low elevation snow sites are snow-free, but the high elevation sites are still well above average.
Flattop Mountain in Glacier Park, for example, is 155% above average and Noisy Basin, in the Swan Range, is 159% of average.
More rain is expected tonight, though snow in higher elevations, with upwards of 17 inches in the high terrain of Glacier, the National Weather Service said. Passes like Marias Pass will see slushy snow and a few inches.
In Yellowstone, pictures of massive mudslides and washed out roads are coming out the park, which celebrates its 150th anniversary this year.