Flooding unlikely despite heavy rain

With recent steady rain, Northwest Montana rivers are rising to peak flows over the next couple of days, but are expected to stay below flood stage.

The National Weather Service said 1.11 inches of rain fell at Glacier Park International Airport over a 48-hour period Wednesday and Thursday.

“It looks like we’ll see some rivers rising in response to this rain we’ve had,” said Ray Nickless, a hydrologist with the Weather Service in Missoula.

“And it looks like they will peak below flood levels.”

With the snowpack runoff mostly complete, Nickless said most rivers will be reaching their peak flows for the spring.

The rain prompted a flood watch for small streams in the Flathead area, but that likely will be lifted as rain moves out of the area starting today, Nickless said.

“So far, we’ve had no reports of flooding on small streams,” he added.

Online hydrographs show most Northwest Montana Rivers falling well short of flood-stage levels over the weekend. However, the Flathead River at Columbia Falls and the Swan River near Bigfork are expected to approach within a couple of feet of flood stage today.