Whitefish River reaches highest level so far

The Whitefish River was reported Monday to be at its highest point of the year, Flathead County’s emergency services director said.

Scott Sampey said both the Whitefish and Stillwater rivers have flood warnings in place for the next few days. Warnings mean no major flooding is expected, Sampey said, but the two rivers likely will spill out of their banks at some point this week.

Likewise, Ashley Creek was running “very, very high” Monday, he said. And Trumbull Creek in the Columbia Falls area remained high.

“Those four are the major areas we’re keeping an eye on right now,” he said.

Throughout Flathead County, low spots are filling up with water, creating temporary lakes of sorts, Sampey said.

The Leisure Island and Echo Lake areas both have seen plenty of groundwater pooling up, forcing some people to temporarily leave their houses until water recedes.

The county hasn’t issued any evacuation orders, but Sampey is aware of some people who have “self evacuated” their flooded properties. “People are using common sense,” he said.

With the Whitefish and Stillwater rivers rising again, parts of Evergreen that flooded earlier this year — including River Road — have flooded again, he said.

The National Weather Service forecast calls for warm weather today, but then a return to cooler weather with some precipitation, including snow above 5,000 feet, through the rest of this week.

The cold weather system is expected to prompt gradual declines on swollen rivers and streams over the week, but meteorologist Bruce Bauck stressed on Monday that mountain snowpack is “huge” and presents an ongoing threat for rivers to rise, with possibly higher peak flows in the weeks to come.

Snowpack in the Flathead River Basin is 301 percent of normal.

“What it will take to bring that snowpack off is about three to seven days of warmth,” said Bauck, who added that type of weather is not in the forecast for the next seven to 10 days.