Tag Archives: flood forecast

Area river levels drop but peak flows ahead

June 10, 2011Flood Information, Newsflood forecast, river flow forecasts, river levelsnfpa

By and large, local rivers crested just below flood stage after the last bout of wet weather. However, higher flows and river levels are likely as the weather continues to warm.

Today’s Daily Inter Lake has a write-up . . .

Although most area river levels have dropped, the National Weather Service is maintaining a flood warning for the Whitefish and Stillwater rivers into Saturday and a meteorologist warns that there are more peak flows to come on Northwest Montana waterways…

Most Northwest Montana rivers, including the North Fork, Middle Fork and main stem Flathead rivers, rose close to flood stage on Wednesday but flows have declined since then. …these are not peak flows for the spring runoff. Because of the persistent water-loaded snowpack, there can be more and higher peak flows in the weeks to come.

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Flathead rivers fall just short of flood stage

June 9, 2011Flood Information, NewsFlathead County, flood forecast, flood watch, floodingnfpa

From today’s Flathead Beacon . . .

While many residents across western Montana were waking up to raging rivers, those in Flathead and Lincoln counties had pretty much dodged the bullet.

By Thursday morning, no rivers in Northwest Montana had reached flood stage, as was predicted by the National Weather Service in Missoula on Wednesday afternoon. As a result all flood advisories had been lifted for both counties, with the exception of a river-specific warning on the Stillwater, according to meteorologist Jessica Nolte.

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Plenty of rain falls, but local rivers stay below flood stage

June 9, 2011Flood Information, NewsFlathead County, flood forecast, flood watch, floodingnfpa

So far, so good. It appears the North Fork is staying within its banks and the same is holding true for the general area.

From today’s Daily Inter Lake . . .

In spite of Wednesday’s rainfall, rivers in Flathead County remain inside their banks, the county’s emergency services director said late Wednesday afternoon.

Scott Sampey said water conditions didn’t change much between Tuesday and Wednesday. The North Fork was up a bit Wednesday and running muddy. The Middle Fork at West Glacier was up and the main Flathead River had risen near action stage, Sampey said.

“It could be that someone along any of these rivers gets flooded,” he said. But no county rivers are at flood stage yet, he said.

With more rain in the forecast for the next week, rivers should stay high, he said, but lower temperatures at the same time will prevent mountain snowpack from melting quickly.

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North Fork should crest just below flood stage

June 8, 2011Flood Information, Newsflood forecast, flooding, North Fork Flathead River, river levelsnfpa

This morning’s river level readings and forecast show the North Fork cresting a little below flood stage today both at the Canadian border and at Polebridge. Elsewhere in the area, minor flooding is expected for the Middle Fork at West Glacier and the main stem of the Flathead River near Columbia Falls.

Check out the links on the “Flood Information” page for more information.

Local rivers to flirt with flood stage

June 7, 2011Flood Information, Newsflood forecast, flood watch, floodingnfpa

The National Weather Service has backed off a bit on its flood forecast, now expecting area rivers to mostly just approach flood stage. Locally, the flood watch released this morning indicates the “North Fork and Middle Fork of the Flathead river will see increased rises in flows… and will have the potential to reach flood stage through midweek.”

Here’s the write-up from today’s Daily Inter Lake . . .

Flathead County officials are keeping an eye on area rivers, streams and lakes for the next couple of days, following higher weekend temperatures and a forecast for more rain in the next few days.

Scott Sampey, Flathead County director of emergency services, said all area rivers are expected to “get near or barely nip flood stage” on Wednesday. By the end of the week, river levels are expected to drop.

The National Weather Service in Missoula issued a flood watch for Flathead County on Monday afternoon. A flood watch means there is potential for flooding…

The weather service’s river level gauges indicate peak flows are expected at all county rivers mid-afternoon Wednesday…

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Flood Watch in effect through Tuesday afternoon

June 6, 2011Flood Information, NewsFlathead County, flood forecast, flood watch, North Fork Flathead Rivernfpa

From the National Weather Service . . .

Statement as of 10:40 AM MDT on June 06, 2011

… Flood Watch in effect through Tuesday afternoon…

The National Weather Service in Missoula has issued a

* Flood Watch for a portion of northwest Montana… including the following County… Flathead.

* Until further notice

* snowmelt will combine with excessive rainfall amounts through Tuesday evening. This will result in sharp increases in rivers and streams.

* All stems of the Flathead rivers… including the North Fork… Middle Fork… and main Stem will have the potential to reach flood stage by midweek.

Precautionary/preparedness actions…

A Flood Watch means there is a potential for flooding based on current forecasts.

You should monitor later forecasts and be alert for possible flood warnings. Those living in areas prone to flooding should be prepared to take action should flooding develop.

Rivers may reach flood stage after warm weather, coming rainstorm

June 6, 2011Flood Information, Newsflood forecast, flooding, North Fork Flathead Rivernfpa

From today’s Missoulian . . .

What do you get when you add two warm weekend days, an expected 80-degree high temperature for Monday, and a rainstorm that is expected to move into western Montana late Monday and stay through Wednesday?

A good chance that the Clark Fork, Bitterroot and Flathead rivers will be above flood stage by the middle to later half of the work week, said Corby Dickerson, meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Missoula.

“One of the things that is really challenging in advance of these storms is to fully gauge the impact of the heating and precipitation on our flood models,” Dickerson said. “As far as actual numbers and how high the rivers will get there are still a lot of questions.”

“However, given the scenario and time of year, we are shaping up to see a substantial rise in the rivers across Western Montana.”

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North Fork forecast at flood stage by mid-week at Canadian border

June 4, 2011Flood Information, Newsflood forecast, flooding, river levelsnfpa

The National Weather Service tweaked their forecast river levels for the North Fork Flathead River. They now show it cresting just above flood stage for about a day at the Canadian border in the Tuesday-Wednesday time-frame. It’s hard to know what will happen at Polebridge — the gauge seems to be broken again — but the river should at least be pretty close to bank-full by mid-week.

Use the links on the “Flood Information” page to monitor the situation.

Warm temperatures through Monday expected to bring rivers up

June 4, 2011Flood Information, Newsflood forecast, flooding, weather forecastnfpa

From today’s Daily Inter Lake . . .

The National Weather Service is holding to its forecast for higher temperatures this weekend and for Western Montana rivers and streams to rise sharply in the early part of next week.

Temperatures are expected to reach the lower 70s today and the upper 70s or lowers 80s by Sunday and Monday.

It will be “the warmest temperatures we’ve certainly seen this year,” meteorologist Bruce Bauck said. “It’s going to take a couple of days for this warm weather to start melting this snow … We should see the rivers starting to jump up pretty good in the early part of the week.”…

Across the Flathead River Basin, the snow water content at higher-elevation sites is 226 percent of normal….

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Related news: Balmy weekend ahead for Glacier

Snow melting, dams filling, floods feared in West

June 2, 2011Environmental Issues, Flood Information, Newsflood forecast, flooding, snow accumulation, snowpacknfpa

Here’s a pretty good overview of the potential flood situation in our corner of the the U.S. from today’s Flathead Beacon . . .

The giant concrete dams of the Pacific Northwest are overflowing with water. Wyoming has deployed National Guard troops to pile up sandbags. A federal official compares the impending situation to a bucking bull ready to storm out of his chute.

States across the West are bracing for major flooding in the coming weeks once a record mountain snowpack starts melting and sending water gushing into rivers, streams and low-lying communities. The catalyst will be warmer temperatures forecast for the next week that could set off a rapid thaw.

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Related article more specific to Montana: Schweitzer wants presidential disaster declaration