Mighty winds wreak havoc

High winds ravaged Northwest Montana on Friday night as a pair of storms blew across the area, felling trees and power lines and resulting in at least one serious injury.

A line of storms from Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, blew northwest through Yaak, Troy, Libby and Eureka before exiting Montana and moving through Roosville, British Columbia, said forecaster Bryan Henry of the National Weather Service in Missoula. It left "pretty widespread tree blow-downs" in its wake, he said.

Troy took the brunt of the storm. When it hit at about 7 p.m., it tore roofs to bits and sent trees crashing down on houses and power lines. Many people were without power Saturday; it may be another day or two before power is restored.

Only one injury was reported: A 37-year-old man was hurt when a tree blew on top of him.

The accident occurred while he was hiking with his fiancee on the Cedar Creek Trail in the Cabinet Mountain Wilderness Area. She ran down the mountain and called the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office. Dispatch took the call at about 8 p.m.

David Thompson Search and Rescue and Libby ambulance responded and found the man about 4.5 miles up the trail, according to Lt. Roby Bowe of the Sheriff's Office. Getting him back down was more complicated; the windstorm had choked the trail with fallen trees and debris. It took two chain saws to clear a path to the ambulance.

The man, whose name has not been released, suffered severe injuries to his upper right arm and lower left leg, Bowe said. He was taken to St. John's Lutheran Hospital in Libby, then flown by ALERT helicopter to Kalispell Regional Medical Center.

Farther south, a second storm that originated in Northeast Oregon blew into Montana southwest of Superior. In Oregon, it dropped golf-ball sized hail, but the hail was quarter-sized by the time the storm reached Montana, Henry said.

When it blew over Orofino and Cardiss, both in Idaho, residents reported seeing funnel clouds. The storm re-intensified when it crossed the border, Henry said, then weakened about 15 miles outside Superior.

"Radar strongly suggested it was a tornado after it crossed the state line," he said.

Tornadoes in Montana are extremely rare, he added. A weak funnel cloud was reported in Missoula County in the mid-'80s; another touched down in Ravali County several years later. Neither caused damage.

There have been only five confirmed tornadoes in Western Montana during the past 50 years, Henry said.

Friday's storm weakened before it got far into Montana. Damage was minimal in Mineral County. A couple of trees blew down in St. Regis, but no injuries were reported. As of Saturday afternoon, the sheriff's office hadn't taken any property damage reports.

The Sanders County Sheriff's Office in Thompson Falls likewise reported little damage from the storm.

Felled trees took down a couple of power lines, one of which caused a fire. The second line, which fell in Plains, sparked but never ignited.

The storm weakened and moved northeast toward Polson, where it reintensified over Flathead Lake. A Woods Bay resident reported 60 mph gusts, Henry said.

Some Lake County residents lost electricity when a couple of trees took out power lines on Montana 35. Crews have had to rebuild the lines to restore power, according to the Lake County Sheriff's Office.

In Pablo, a tree blew across a trailer. No injuries were reported.

One injury was reported in Kalispell, when a tree fell on someone's leg at a Second Avenue East residence. The person wasn't pinned but did need medical assistance.

The Flathead County Sheriff's Office fielded about 20 storm-related calls in an hour and a half, most regarding fallen trees on power lines.

"We had outages, but they were sporadic," said Mike Radel, communications director for Flathead Electric Cooperative.

Several homes in Marion, Kalispell and Whitefish were affected, he said, but there were no outages that affect large numbers of people. Power was fully restored by Saturday.

In all, the storm lasted about five hours. That's not uncommon, Henry said; typically such storms go through cycles of intensifying, weakening and then building again.

In contrast, the average thunderstorm lasts about 30 minutes. But "super cells" such as those that caused Friday's storms "have a life of their own," Henry said.

Residents of Northwest Montana can expect calmer, but much hotter, weather over the next few days. The National Weather Service is predicting record-high temperatures Thursday and Friday, reaching the mid-90s in Kalispell.

That's about two weeks earlier than usual, Henry said.

The high temperatures could have implications for fire season, he added. It will cure fuels much faster than typical.

"Grasses are already turning brown way ahead of schedule," he said. "This is only going to compound matters."

Reporter Kristi Albertson may be reached at 758-4438 or by e-mail at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com.