North Fork Preservation Association

Besides the usual North Fork mud and potholes, springtime in Northwest Montana is also flood season — sometimes a minor nuisance, sometimes a major problem. This page contains links to flood-related information, including river levels, snowpack information and forecasts.

Polebridge area weather conditions and forecast (Weather Underground) – If any flood advisories or warnings are active, links to that information will appear on this page. This page is also accessible from the weather graphic in the site’s sidebar. The graphic displays notice of alerts in bold red text.

Current and forecast river levels, North Fork Flathead River – This is a custom page displaying current and forecast river gauge data, as well as weekly forecast flood probabilities for the North Fork of the Flathead River.

National Weather Service, Missoula, main hydrology page – This is the best general starting point for snowpack, precipitation and river level information and forecasts, including flood watches and warnings. Items of general interest linked from this page include:

• The hydrologic outlook (river and stream forecast),
• flood watches and
• flood warnings.

USGS real-time river gauge data, North Fork Flathead River – The U.S. Geological Survey operates the river gauges at the Canadian border and near Columbia Falls. This is the place to go to see real-time data on river levels and flow rates. There’s also a link to subscribe to email alerts.

Current and forecast river levels, Flathead County – Provided by the National Weather Service, this page displays a handy series of graphs showing current and forecast river gauge data, including water level, and flow rates. There are three automated gauges on the North Fork Flathead: at the Canadian border, at Polebridge and at Columbia Falls.

Montana SNOTEL data summary – This is a very useful one-page summary of high-altitude snowpack conditions. It’s issued by the Department of Agriculture and is derived from their SNOTEL sensor data. Pay particular attention to the “snow water equivalent values,” which are far more important than actual snow depth when it comes to flooding potential.

Montana Snow Depth and Snow Accumulation – WeatherStreet.com has a map-based web page that tracks snow depth and snow accumulation values for Montana. It also has the most recent SNOTEL snow depth reports.

Flathead County Office of Emergency Services – In the event of major flooding, these folks will be responsible, in conjunction with federal and state agencies, for managing and coordinating the response. Presently, the page includes contact data, as well as links to informational material.

Trackback URI |