Winter weather forces prep sports cancellations

Worsening conditions and a dire forecast led to cancellations to sporting events throughout the Flathead Valley on Tuesday.

A total of five basketball games were postponed.

Bigfork called off its girls-boys home doubleheader against Missoula Loyola due to deteriorating road conditions and the heavy snowfall expected on Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning. Both games will be made up on Feb. 16.

Frenchtown and Whitefish also canceled their planned matchups on the hardwood.

The Whitefish boys were slated to travel to Frenchtown, and the girls were scheduled to host the Broncs. Whitefish athletic director Aric Harris told the Daily Inter Lake in an email that the games will be rescheduled, but he did not indicate when.

The Eureka girls were forced to cancel their trip to Idaho to face Bonners Ferry due to a weather-induced school closure there.

Columbia Falls nixed a wrestling event that Flathead, Libby, Frenchtown and Sandpoint (Idaho) were scheduled to attend. It is unclear whether it will be rescheduled.

Nearly all of Northwest Montana, including the entirety of the Flathead Valley, has been under a winter weather watch since Sunday and is currently under a winter weather warning that is slated to last until 11 a.m. today, according to the National Weather Service.

The Weather Service in Missoula predicts heavy snow and wind gusts up to 25 miles per hour and said roads will be “very difficult to impossible” to travel on.