National Weather Service downgrades rain warnings

The National Weather Service downgraded its flood watch in much of Northwest Montana Tuesday.

“We’re still expecting several periods of light to moderate rainfall to come through,” said Travis Booth, a meteorologist with the Weather Service’s office in Missoula. “But the moisture that came in yesterday and overnight, the snow levels actually remained lower than we were expecting, so the mountain areas received snowfall instead of rainfall.”

On Monday the agency had forecast rising snow levels to contribute to significant snowmelt in the mountains around the Flathead Valley, but Booth said snow fell at altitudes as low as 3,500 feet Tuesday night, and were expected to hover between 6,000 and 7,000 feet through this afternoon.

Tuesday’s high temperature in Kalispell was 45 degrees, with a high of 47 expected today.

Precipitation in the valleys by Tuesday evening totaled a half inch to three-quarters of an inch, with mixed precipitation dropping the equivalent of one to two inches of rain in the mountains.

Whitefish Mountain Resort reported at 10 a.m. Tuesday it had received 9 inches of snow in the past 24 hours, but by the evening was still expecting precipitation to switch over to rain overnight.

Falling temperatures tonight will bring the possibility of light snow to the valley beginning Thursday and continuing through the weekend.

With a shot of colder air forecast Sunday, Booth added that the region could receive more significant snowfall next week.

Reporter Sam Wilson can be reached at 758-4407 or by email at swilson@dailyinterlake.com.