Rain causes flooding in Glacier

Heavy rains and runoff have closed the Inside North Fork Road from Logging Creek south to Fish Creek.

Park spokeswoman Amy Vanderbilt said the road was closed due to flooding at Anaconda Creek. The creek has multiple channels and crosses the road in several places.

In the past week, West Glacier has seen 3.25 inches of rain. St. Mary has seen nearly 4 inches.

Since June 1, West Glacier has had 5.53 inches of rain, compared to the seasonal average of 3.36 inches. St. Mary has had 4.56 inches of rain, compared to an average 3.94 inches.

Lakes and streams are running high, and hikers and park visitors are warned to use extreme caution near waterways. A woman drowned in Virginia Creek Friday 'see related story on A2).

In eastern Montana, weather wreaked havoc in Billings. A tornado touched down Sunday afternoon and heavily damaged parts of the city, including the city's convention center, MetraPark.

No one was injured in the storm.

In the tiny town of Froid, a powerful storm on June 16 flattened a couple's home. The storm killed Romana Ryder and injured her husband, Pat Ryder.

The wet weather locally has been a blessing. Starting out this spring, climatologists were predicting an active fire season.

But with the recent rains, precipitation has climbed above average for the calendar year and the water year. For the calendar year, Kalispell is 1.83 inches above normal and for the water year, it's .78 inches above normal. The water year is measured from Oct. 1 to Sept. 1.

That's a substantial boost to the water table, since winter snows were well below average.

This summer's fire season is predicted to have normal precipitation and normal temperatures, National Weather Service Meteorologist Peter Felsch said last week.

Wet springs have an additional silver lining: They almost always result in good wildflower blooms in the Park.