Chips off the (c)old block
Fair-Mont-Egan Elementary School principal Christine Schmidt-Anthony, left, former student Ben Clanton, substitute teacher Kelly Bradley, and the school's business manager, Susan Clanton, use a variety of tools Wednesday to break up a thick sheet of ice that jammed the school's storm drain. Garrett Cheen/Daily Inter Lake
The Daily Inter Lake
Warming trend makes roads a mess
Warm weather and rain struck the Flathead Valley with a slushy splash Tuesday night and Wednesday.
Rain on top of recent snow (27.7 inches this month and 62 inches this winter) plus temperatures in the 40s created mushy messes on many roadways.
Driving became an adventure as motorists had to contend with wheel-wrenching ruts alternating with growing pools of water.
Some minor flooding affected Fair-Mont-Egan School until school officials chopped through ice to open a clogged storm drain. On Airport Road, the basement in a vacant house had 4 feet of standing water.
The National Weather Service issued a flood advisory for Flathead, Lincoln and Sanders counties through noon today. The Weather Service said melting snow combined with rainfall runoff will continue to cause ponding of water on roads and in low-lying areas.
Rain is expected to continue through this evening.
Beyond road challenges, there were scattered power outages Wednesday.
Spot outages are sure to continue, the Flathead Electric Cooperative said, even though crews are out inspecting, patrolling and repairing lines.
About 600 Flathead Electric customers were without power in the Libby area along Kootenai River Road and Bobtail Road on Wednesday afternoon, while another 366 members in the Happy Valley area had their electricity restored that morning.
West Glacier, Essex, West Valley, Columbia Falls, Bad Rock and other areas had outages, Communications Director Wendy Ostrom Price said, with some areas losing power right after it had been restored from an earlier incident.
Flathead Electric's system is automated now, signaling crews to head out to restore outages as quickly as possible.
But Ostrom Price asked cooperative members not to assume anything - if you have an outage or see a tree down over a line, call 751-4449. If you are in Libby, call toll free at 1-800-406-0762.
The co-op also advised people of the hazards of power lines that are weighed down by snow. Snow dragged several trees and branches onto power lines near Whitefish Wednesday. In at least three instances, the trees caught fire.
Assume these lines are still energized, the co-op said in a press release, and do not touch them or anything they are in contact with.
Also, make sure addresses are clearly visible to repair crews.