Snow storm hits Flathead Valley
A Houston Drive resident Monday snow blows a covered street after the weekend’s snow storms.
Blowing snow and icy roads impacted travel throughout the Flathead Valley Monday morning, but also created powder for skiers.
Due to the extreme snowfall and severe weather forecast, the Whitefish School District Sunday afternoon announced a district-wide closure for Monday.
“Safe travel of our students is paramount,” Superintendent Heather Davis Schmidt said in a prepared release. “We appreciate everyone understanding.”
Whitefish Mountain Resort on Tuesday was reporting 33 inches of snow having fallen in the previous seven days. Total snowfall through Tuesday morning was recorded at 214 inches.
The National Weather Service recorded three-day snow totals across Northwest Montana ranging from 3 feet in Polebridge to 20 inches in Kalispell and 31 inches in Olney.
The brunt of the storm seemed to hit Columbia Falls, which recorded 20 inches of snow from Friday to Monday, and farther east. The Montana Department of Transportation closed U.S. Highway 2 from West Glacier to East Glacier after snowdrifts blocked the highway, which by late afternoon was reopened to local traffic on the western portion as far as Essex.
Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway and Amtrak temporarily suspended service through the John F. Stevens Canyon because of avalanches and avalanche danger. Train traffic was suspended from Shelby to Whitefish.
Glacier National Park authorized a special permit to conduct avalanche hazard mitigation on Tuesday along the southern boundary of the park. BNSF was expected to use concussion charged detonated from a helicopter above the snowpack along the U.S. Highway 2 corridor.
The Flathead Avalanche Center issued a backcountry avalanche warning for the Whitefish, Swan, Flathead ranges and southern Glacier National Park. On Tuesday, the center noted “high” avalanche danger above 6,000 feet, meaning travel in avalanche terrain is not recommended. Below 6,000 feet, avalanche danger was rated as “considerable.”
For more information on the avalanche danger, visit http://www.flatheadavalanche.org.