Tag Archives: flooding

Late snow melt presents forest challenges; Hay Creek Road closed

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Saturated soils and a delayed spring runoff are causing a lot of problems in the Flathead National Forest. In the North Fork, for instance, Hay Creek Road is closed due to a slump. Today’s Daily Inter Lake has the story . . .

Warming temperatures and snow melt are contributing to increased water levels in rivers and lakes, and saturated soils across the Flathead National Forest, especially on roads and trails.

Forest officials urge all forest users to use caution when encountering deep snow, downed trees, blocked roads and trails, wet and muddy conditions, or high and fast-moving water.

“We encourage all forest users to contact a local Forest Service office to obtain current information about road and trail conditions, access, and ideas for alternate travel routes,” said Denise Germann, the forest’s public affairs officer. “Recreationists on or near a river, stream or lake should use extreme caution as water levels may fluctuate quickly.”

Continue reading . . .

Flooding expected in some areas of Northwest Montana this weekend

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According to an article in today’s Daily Inter Lake, some rivers in Northwest Montana are expected to reach or exceed flood stage this weekend. (The North Fork isn’t on the list, although the stage forecast for a week from now is suggestive.) . . .

Flooding is expected to start this weekend on some Northwest Montana rivers, but the National Weather Service is warning that it is just a beginning, with the highest flows on all rivers yet to come.

The forecast calls for continued warm weather over the weekend, with rain Sunday night and Monday and cooler weather next week that should level off flows on most rivers in the region, said Marty Whitmore, the warning coordination meteorologist in Missoula.

Continue reading . . .

Western Montana waters expected to rise fast, hard once snow melts

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Here’s the Missoulian’s take on the start of Spring runoff . . .

Western Montana’s flood season has a lot in common with the space shuttle Endeavour: It’ll be big when it goes, but the start date keeps getting postponed.

“Even though we’re losing some water in the (snow)pack, it’s not to the level we normally see,” National Weather Service warning coordination meteorologist Marty Whitmore said Tuesday. “But when that snow comes off, it will come in a fairly quick time.”

By Tuesday morning, the region north of an imaginary line along Thompson Falls, Kalispell and Browning was seeing significant melting in the mountains. But below that all the way south to Dillon and Ennis, moisture was still accumulating from storms on Sunday and Monday.

Continue reading . . .

The melt is on; rivers and streams are rising

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From today’s Daily Inter Lake . . .

A trend of warmer weather will settle in over Western Montana this week and the deep mountain snowpack finally will start to melt, with rivers and streams expected to approach or exceed flood stage by the middle of next week.

The forecast calls for temperatures in the 60s or higher through Saturday, along with a chance of showers and thunderstorms during the latter part of the week.

“We just anticipate the melt to occur,” said Marty Whitmore, warning coordination meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Missoula. “We’re going to see significant rises in creeks and small streams … Some of those are going to start coming out of their banks.”

Continue reading . . .

Spring flooding expected with record snowpack; could see historic flood levels

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The Flathead Beacon posted a good article today on the flood potential in the Flathead River Basin, including the latest forecast estimates. This one is recommended reading . . .

The National Weather Service reported last week that the snowpack in certain areas of the Flathead River Basin have reached historic levels, likely leading to flood or near-flood levels on the basin’s major rivers in May and June.

Ray Nickless, a hydrologist for NWS, said in a spring flooding report that some rivers, such as the Swan and the North Fork of the Flathead, are forecast to reach flood levels that could place them in the top five highest flood levels on record.

In the past three weeks, the Flathead has seen a significant increase in snowpack levels. The levels were at 141 percent of average on April 15, and recent data shows the Flathead now at 183 percent of average.

Continue reading . . .

“Flood Information” page updated with North Fork-specific information

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We did a little shuck and jive at the National Weather Service site and put together a custom, North Fork-specific page displaying current and forecast river gauge data, as well as weekly forecast flood probabilities for the North Fork of the Flathead River. It is now the first link you encounter on the Flood Information page.

If you want to save a click, here is the direct link: Current and forecast river levels, North Fork Flathead River

“Flood Information” page now available

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According to our access logs, we are getting (ahem) inundated by searches for flood-related information. We can take a hint. Check out the navigation bar up there at the top of this page. The NFPA web site now has a dedicated Flood Information page containing links to such things as river levels, snowpack data and forecasts.

Truth be told, putting this together was a bit of a nuisance. At least three different federal agencies maintain relevant and sometimes overlapping information. The Flood Information page has a good set of starter links. We’ll add more as we find them.