Winter blast turns deadly

Wind-toppled tree kills Ronan man; power outages reported in Flathead Valley

By KRISTI ALBERTSON/Daily Inter Lake

The weekend's wintry weather proved deadly Saturday morning when a tree blew onto a Ronan man's vehicle near Polson on Montana 35.

The 24-year-old was heading north in a 1995 Honda Accord at about 7:30 a.m. when a strong gust of wind toppled a tree onto his car, according to the Montana Highway Patrol. The accident took place at mile marker 17.

The road was icy and snow-covered, and snow was blowing across it, the patrol said.

The man was taken to St. Joseph Hospital in Polson, where he was pronounced dead. His name is being withheld until his family has been notified.

The wind was still vicious when Lake County sheriff's deputies responded to the accident. A deputy was on scene when a second, smaller tree fell onto his patrol car. He was inside the vehicle at the time but was not injured.

No other weather-related injuries were reported Saturday, but the risk still exists with continued winds and low temperatures. The National Weather Service predicts a high of about minus 9 degrees today.

"The cold air is beginning to infiltrate the area," meteorologist Marty Whitmore said. "We will see a continued intrusion of cold air, and we're going to maintain the winds."

The winds blew in Friday evening, reaching speeds of 25 mph and gusts of 38 mph at Glacier Park International Airport. There is no machinery to measure wind speed along the East Shore of Flathead Lake, according to the Weather Service, but it was sufficiently gusty Friday night and Saturday morning to blow down trees and power lines.

The downed debris closed Montana 35 on Saturday from Polson to the Montana 206 intersection, according to the Montana Department of Transportation. The downed power lines also meant no electricity for about 100 Flathead Electric Cooperative customers along the East Shore, spokeswoman Wendy Ostrom-Price said.

"In these kinds of winds, there are always, always, always going to be a few outages, but so far there's been nothing too major," she said.

A downed tree in Whitefish cut power for "not a large number" of people on the north shore of Whitefish Lake on Saturday, Ostrom-Price said; she didn't know how many were affected. An outage also was reported in Columbia Falls, which, according to the Weather Service, received 7 inches of snow Friday night.

The wind was still blowing Saturday morning. The Flathead County Sheriff's Office received reports of downed trees from Marion to Bigfork.

The wind's minus 40 chill and 50 mph gusts prevented Whitefish Mountain Resort from opening Saturday, according to its Web site. Skiers and snowboarders should check www.skiwhitefish.com today to find out whether the mountain will open.

Winds between 20 and 30 mph with higher gusts are expected in the valley today, hydrometeorological technician Crystal Lake said. The Weather Service issued a wind-chill warning Saturday that will carry at least through tonight, Whitmore said.

"I wouldn't be surprised if we extended it through Monday," he added.

In Kalispell, the temperature was expected to reach minus 13 degrees Saturday night, with a wind chill of minus 35, Whitmore said. Tonight, the air temperature will be minus 21, with a wind chill of minus 45.

"It's dangerous stuff," he said.

It will continue to be cold and windy for the next several days, Whitmore said. Snow isn't expected until Thursday.

That's when the next arctic air mass should roll into Northwest Montana, he said, which will keep temperatures low throughout the week and into next weekend.

"That system will reinforce the cold air Friday and Saturday," he said.

On the "Net: www.wrh.noaa.gov/mso/

Road closures: www.mdt.mt.gov/travinfo/reports/alerts.shtml

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