It's umbrella, snowshoe weather
<p>Sperry Chalet in Glacier National Park received 14 to 16 inches of snow since Tuesday morning and more was falling on Wednesday. The chalet is not due to open until July 10. (Glacier National Park photo)</p>
<p>Linda Cannell of Reno, Nevada, throws a frisbee with April, her yellow Lab, on Wednesday afternoon at Depot Park in Kalispell. The rain was not a deterrent for Cannell since her family is from the desert.</p>
<p>Working in a downpour Wednesday, Rus Tindale and Clay Fischer of Flathead County Parks and Recreation dig out and remove the rotted base of a swingset at the Mission Village Overlook Park north of Kalispell. Depending on the weather, repairs should be completed today.</p>
A late-spring deluge that has dumped over 6 inches of rain and more than a foot of snow in parts of Glacier National Park has tourists seeking cover and rivers spilling over their banks from the mountain runoff.
Additional heavy rain was expected to fall through today, along with another 4 to 8 inches of snow at elevations above 6,500 feet, forecasters said.
Although high water from heavy rains has yet to cause significant flooding, Glacier National Park officials are preparing in case there are problems at St. Mary and Many Glacier.
“Nothing major is happening. We’re kind of in a preparation stage,” Denise Germann, the park’s public affairs specialist, said Wednesday.
Tourists hunkered down in lodges, snow plowing crews stood down and workers laid out sandbags, Germann said.
She said there are pre-evacuation plans for employee housing and administrative buildings at St. Mary, where Divide Creek has been rising, prompting sandbags to be deployed in the St. Mary administrative area.
“Divide Creek is definitely moving” Germann said. “It’s muddy and it’s moving fast.”
The St. Mary Campground was closed due to standing and running water and debris from Wild Creek and other runoff. About 10 campers weathered it out in the campground Tuesday night and all left on their own Wednesday morning.
The Red Eagle Lake trailhead near St. Mary also was closed.
Park officials also are keeping an eye on a rising waters at the foot of Swiftcurrent Lake at Many Glacier. After a severe rainstorm in November 2006, the lake rose to such a level that water was surging over the Swiftcurrent Bridge that provides access to the Many Glacier Hotel complex.
Swiftcurrent Creek rose more than a foot and a half from Tuesday to Wednesday morning.
Germann said preparations have included staging equipment at strategic locations to respond to any flooding problems.
While up to 6 inches of rain have fallen over parts of the park, heavy snow is falling at higher elevations.
Park employees at Sperry Chalet reported 14 to 16 inches of snow falling there since Tuesday morning, and it was snowing again on Wednesday.
On the west side of the park, there is standing water on the road leading to Kintla Lake, prompting it to be closed at the head of Big Prairie about seven miles north of the Polebridge entrance.
Travel in the North Fork area of the park is not recommended because of standing water in several areas.
Plow crews were pulled off Going-to-the-Sun Road Tuesday and Wednesday for safety reasons, and construction work east of Logan Pass has been very limited because of heavy rains.
From Tuesday through Wednesday evening, Many Glacier received 4.2 inches of rain, Goat Haunt had 6.5 inches and St. Mary received 4.8 inches.
Germann said the park is in regular contact with the National Weather Service and visitors are being advised to use extreme caution when around water.
“Creek crossings are definitely dangerous and not encouraged at this time,” she said.
Glacier visitors are also being urged to report any debris slides or other damage to park officials.
At Babb east of Glacier Park, the St. Mary River is at minor flood stage. It rose over 8 feet (flood stage is 7.5 feet) Wednesday and is expected to crest at 8.4 feet today and remain above flood stage through Sunday, according to the National Weather Service.
Small streams in Glacier and Pondera counties also are under flood warnings.
Water was reported on the roadway where Montana 89 crosses the Milk River.
Debris flows temporarily closed Montana 49 north of East Glacier, and the Weather Service warned of mud and debris slides from the excess runoff.
In the Flathead Valley, rivers are rising and are expected to crest today.
The mainstem Flathead River at Columbia Falls on Wednesday was up over 2 feet from Tuesday’s level and is predicted to crest at 13.5 feet today. Flood stage is 13 feet.
The Whitefish River is forecast to reach a level of 7.52 feet today. Flood stage is 8.3 feet.
The North Fork Flathead River at the Canadian border rose from 7 feet Tuesday to 9.89 feet Wednesday evening and is expected to go to 10.72 feet today. Minor flood stage is 10.5 feet.
“We’re definitely keeping an eye out on the North Fork of the Flathead,” said Leeann Allegretto, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Missoula.
“The way it’s looking right now, it will probably go to a flood warning late tonight,” she said late Wednesday afternoon.
Kalispell had record rainfall of 1.74 inches Tuesday, but Allegretto said the heaviest precipitation has been to the north.
Elsewhere, the National Weather Service is watching reservoirs that have been rapidly filling on the western front of the Mission Mountain Range.
If they fill to capacity, that will set the stage for some flooding on low-lying farm lands in the Mission Valley, Allegretto said.
A half-inch to three-quarters of an inch of additional rain was forecast for Northwest Montana overnight, but the rainy weather is expected to go away by midmorning today, she said.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.