More sections of Glacier's Sun Road open to traffic
<p>Snow coats Sperry Chalet in Glacier National Park on Wednesday. (Glacier National Park photo)</p>
September snowfall closed a major portion of Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier National Park but the closures were moved to higher elevations Thursday afternoon.
Motorists could travel as far as Big Bend west of Logan Pass or Jackson Glacier Overlook on the east side of the pass.
Earlier in the day, the road had been closed between Rising Sun on the east side and Avalanche Creek on the west side of the park.
Park officials will continue to assess conditions to reopen the full length of the historic highway when possible.
The temperature along the upper sections of the road was 23 degrees Wednesday evening and included up to 5 inches of snow on the road and an ice layer under the snow.
Visit the park's website at http://home.nps.gov/applications/glac/roadstatus/roadstatus.cfm or the park’s Facebook page, www.facebook.com/GlacierNPS, for updated information.
Although snowstorms have already passed through, cold air remains across Northwest Montana. A damaging hard freeze is expected Friday morning.
Temperatures are expected to plummet well below freezing across the region. Friday morning low temperatures are expected to drop to 22 degrees in Whitefish and West Glacier and 26 degrees in Kalispell, according to the National Weather Service.