Warm-weather woes: Avalanches and flooding
<p>Mark Gettig of Badger Excavating works to suction up a pool of melted snow at Lane's Conoco on Thursday, along Montana 35 in Evergreen. Getting estimated they had filled one truck with 8,000 gallons and would likely need to make three more trips to deal with the flooding problem. (Brenda Ahearn/Daily Inter Lake)</p>
The Daily Inter Lake
and The Associated Press
For the second time in a week, BNSF Railway’s main line across Northwest Montana have been closed after several avalanches came down on the tracks between Essex and Marias Pass.
Meanwhile, warming weather caused ponding of water and localized flooding in many areas of the Flathead Valley.
Avalanche control work Thursday afternoon prompted a temporary closure of U.S. 2 between West Glacier and East Glacier. The highway was closed for just a couple hours and reopened by 4:30 p.m.
“Last night and this morning, there were multiple avalanches of different magnitudes impacting our right-of-way,” BNSF spokesman Matt Jones said Thursday.
The slides have stopped all rail traffic in the area due to the threat of continued avalanches in the area south of Glacier National Park.
Jones said the railroad received special permission from park officials to conduct avalanche control on park lands above the tracks.
“There are multiple options in terms of what we can do for mitigation,” Jones said.
The control work is designed to trigger slides and reduce future threats.
According to a news release from Glacier Park, the special-use permit allows “the use of hand-charger devices, an avalauncher or explosive charges delivered by a helicopter, and only during daylight hours.”
The park news release noted that the planned avalanche-control mitigation activity involved using a Daisy Bell. This is a cylinder suspended from a helicopter that can be accurately positioned above the snowpack.
It relies on a small, controlled pressure wave from the sudden combustion of hydrogen to trigger the snow.
“We are working with BNSF Railway to create safe conditions for their employees and passengers along the southern boundary of the park, and will continue to work with them to find long-term solutions,” Glacier Superintendent Jeff Mow said in the news release.
Jones said it’s unclear how long the rail line will be blocked. As of noon Thursday, track clearing efforts had not begun.
“We aren’t doing any clearing at this time and we aren’t allowing anyone in the area because of the avalanche threat,” Jones said.
Beginning late Sunday, the tracks were closed for about 12 hours while a slide covered the tracks with nearly 7 feet of snow and debris.
Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari said the railroad continues to bus passengers between stations in Shelby and Whitefish.
Amtrak trains have been running without passengers along the Middle Fork corridor because of the avalanche risk.
The Flathead Avalanche Center issued a backcountry avalanche warning Wednesday for much of Northwest Montana, including the Whitefish, Swan and Flathead ranges, along with portions of Glacier National Park.
Before the highway closure, the Montana Department of Transportation recommended no stopping for motorists driving the U.S. 2 section between Essex and Marias Pass due to the avalanche risk.
In other local weather news, Blacktail Mountain Ski Area closed on Thursday because of poor driving conditions — rain on top of ice — on the access road from Lakeside to the ski area.
Blacktail received 6 inches of new snow and has a snow depth of 124 inches.
To the north, Whitefish Mountain Resort has a settled base of 119 inches of snow at the summit of Big Mountain and 72 inches at midmountain. Big Mountain received 14 inches of new snow by Thursday morning and has received 31 inches in the past seven days.
Down in the Flathead Valley, the sudden thaw this week converted snow into puddles and impromptu lakes on roads, at intersections and in people’s yards.
Elsewhere in Montana, higher overnight temperatures in the southwestern part of the state led to rapid snowmelt and water running over the highways near Boulder, Whitehall, Toston, Manhattan and Livingston. Dozens of residents of a Livingston condominium remained evacuated Thursday, while others put sandbags near their homes.
The city of Livingston declared a state of emergency after melting snow flooded creeks and ditches and sent water running down city streets. The flooding started at about 8 p.m. Wednesday and about 70 people were evacuated. Residents of the south side of Livingston were encouraged to sandbag in front of their homes and the Livingston City Center was open to those who were evacuated due to the flooding.
The National Weather Service issued a flood advisory for several areas and local flooding was reported in 13 counties. Flood warnings were issued in Gallatin and Park counties.
Early on Thursday, freezing rain fell across northern Montana east of the Continental Divide as a mix of winter weather and warming temperatures across the state led to avalanches, flooding, treacherous driving conditions and school delays.
School buses did not run in Great Falls or Havre Thursday morning. Havre schools delayed the start of classes by two hours.
“City roads, power lines, sidewalks, everything is coated in ice,” National Weather Service meteorologist Jim Brusda said.
Roads from Cascade north to the Canadian border and from Great Falls east to the North Dakota border were icy in the morning, but by afternoon, only highways in the Havre area were icy, according to the Department of Transportation.
Lewis and Clark County commissioners declared an emergency due to flooding in the Helena Valley.