Weekend has flooding potential

By CHRIS PETERSON / Hungry Horse News

A late snowpack coupled with much warmer temperatures this weekend could result in local flooding, the National Weather Service is warning.

The Middle Fork of the Flathead at West Glacier is expected to rise above the 10-foot flood stage this weekend and the Flathead River in Columbia Falls is also expected to near flood stage as well.

The North Fork of the Flathead is also expected to rise significantly in the coming days, but as of presstime, flooding was not expected.

The flood potential exists because of the abnormally deep snowpack for this time of year. While precipitation in the Flathead River Basin has been about normal, the snowpack hasn't been melting.

In fact, some areas have actually added snowpack in the past few days as rain fell in the valley and snow in the mountains.

Over the weekend, Hungry Horse saw about 1.21 inches of rain Sunday into Tuesday, and West Glacier has seen about 1.62 inches, with more expected Wednesday after presstime.

The higher elevations are a different story. Some Snotel sites are running as much as 500-plus percent of average. Grave Creek, for example, normally has about two inches of snow this time of year. Now it has 13 inches.

The West Flattop Snotel site in Glacier National Park had 124.4 inches of snow on May 6. By May 12, it had 133.7 inches.

That snow is going to start to melt this weekend, forecaster Peter Felsch predicted last week. A strong ridge of high pressure should come in Friday, driving highs into the low 80s over the weekend.

The weather will be beautiful, but the water will be raging, weather service hydrologist Ray Nickless noted. Nickless said area rivers are projected to be above or near flood stage in a conference call last Thursday, and those predictions appear to be holding true.

He said waters in Glacier Park shouldn't approach flood levels seen in November 2006, when the Sun Road was heavily damaged, but McDonald Creek will certainly be moving hard and fast.

People should take extreme caution around water this time of year. Drowning is the No. 1 cause of death in Glacier Park.

The weather service will continue to monitor conditions and tweak forecasts through the week. You can view those forecasts online at www.wrh.noaa.gov/mso/hydrology/ then click on "1 to 14 day forecasts."