Storm knocks out power in Libby

Nearly 6,000 Flathead Electric Cooperative members in Northwest Montana, primarily Libby, were without power by 7 p.m. Friday as a strong storm blew into the area.

While the storm’s main damage was in Lincoln County, outages were also reported around Kalispell and Bigfork. In all, 5,712 members reported losing power early Friday evening.

In addition to the outages, power lines were reported down at a handful of locations throughout Flathead County.

The National Weather Service issued a severe thunderstorm warning for Lincoln County and western Flathead County Friday afternoon lasting until 6 p.m. The storm was predicted to be capable of producing 1-inch hail and winds in excess of 70 miles per hour.

A severe thunderstorm watch was in effect until 9 p.m.

Other weather advisories issued for the area included a special weather statement warning of heavy rain and frequent, dangerous lightning, and a flash flood watch for Flathead County and Lincoln County.