Rivers to crest this weekend

The Daily Inter Lake

Northwest Montana rivers will reach their peaks from snowpack runoff this weekend, but none are forecast to approach flood stage.

"As far as the snowmelt, I think we'll be reaching a crest this weekend," said Ray Nickless, a hydrologist with the National Weather Service in Missoula.

"But at this time of year you can get rainstorms, and if we get a good rainstorm we can go higher than what we've seen so far from snowmelt."

Rain, however, is not in the short-term weather forecast.

Nickless said most rivers will crest well below flood stage. The Middle Fork Flathead River is expected to be the highest, possibly approaching within one foot of flood stage at West Glacier.

The main Flathead River is expected to crest at 12.83 feet early Sunday. Flood stage is 14 feet at the gauge at Columbia Falls.

Hydrology forecasts call for local rivers to drop sharply after this weekend's crests, with river levels expected to be four feet lower by next weekend.

Meanwhile, Flathead Lake is on schedule to rise to its full-pool elevation of 2,893 feet by June 15, according to PPL Montana, the utility that operates Kerr Dam at the foot of the lake.

The lake was projected to reach 2,890 feet by today and steadily rise three feet over the next two weeks.