Night of Lights, Bigfork parade canceled

by The Daily Inter Lake
| December 6, 2013 8:40 AM

Wind-chill values fell to as low as minus 30 degrees Friday morning in Northwest Montana.

The cold weather prompted the cancellation of the popular Night of Lights Parade in downtown Columbia Falls that had been scheduled for Friday night.

According to a news release from Columbia Falls Police Chief Dave Perry, the Teakettle Craft Show also has been canceled.

Bigfork's Magical Holiday Parade planned for Friday night also was canceled.

The Kalispell Art Walk and Holiday Stroll still is planned from 5 to 9 p.m. Friday.

"We won't let a little cold weather stop us from having fun," Pam Carbonari of the Kalispell Downtown Association said Friday morning.

"Dress warm and come to downtown Kalispell to see all of your friends and family," Carbonari wrote in an email.

More than 30 Kalispell studios, shops and galleries will be open late for holiday shopping. For a complete list of participating merchants, go to www.facebook.com/downtownkalispell.

Faced with a worsening forecast, Whitefish Mountain Resort is considering changes in its opening-day operations on Saturday.

Revised forecasts call for temperatures of minus 20 and winds of 13 to 21 mph on Big Mountain.

"If the current forecast holds, there is a good chance we will close the upper mountain for the safety of our guests and our employees," spokeswoman Riley Polumbus said in a news release Friday afternoon.

"Should that be the case, we will consider opening lower mountain chairlifts: 2, 3, 6 and Big Easy Carpet and offering a discounted lift ticket of $40 for ages 13-64 and $25 for ages 7-12 and 65-69."

Polumbus said resort officials would make the decision as early as possible on Saturday and monitor conditions throughout the day.

According to the National Weather Service, the wind chill early Friday was minus 30 at Essex and minus 25 at Fielding near Marias Pass.

At Glacier Park International Airport, the wind chill was 24 below zero Friday morning.

Polebridge had a low temperature (without wind chill) of 25 degrees below zero at 9 a.m..

More brisk winds and low temperatures are forecast Friday and Saturday.

In the Flathead Valley, Friday could bring wind-chill values as low as minus 32, according to the Weather Service, dipping to minus 39 on Saturday.