Snow slide blocks highway

A minor avalanche between West Glacier and Essex pushed about 6 feet of snow onto U.S. 2 early Friday morning, blocking one lane of the mountain corridor south of Glacier National Park.

Lonne Dull, a maintenance technician for the Montana Department of Transportation, described it as a “minor slide” on Friday and said it only covered about 8 feet of roadway.

No vehicles were caught in the slide. It was reported at about 3 a.m. and state highway crews finished clearing snow from the road by early afternoon.

While the department’s initial reports put the location closer to West Glacier, Dull said the slide occurred near mile marker 168, at the slide-prone “Blue Rock Cut” area.

The Flathead Avalanche Center on Friday issued an advisory warning of considerable danger of slides at elevations above 5,000 feet, citing recent heavy snowfall and relatively warm weather in the mountains in and around Glacier.

“We had periods of heavy snow and intense loading [last night] due to wind-transported snow and the actual heavy snowfall,” Todd Hannan, an avalanche forecaster with the center, said Friday. “We’ll probably see some settling tomorrow, but anytime we’re in a storm, we’re likely going to see the avalanche danger rise.”

He added that high wind speeds beginning Sunday could amplify that danger, as snow can build up on leeward slopes more quickly than it falls. Continued windy conditions are expected into next week as an Arctic air mass settles into Western Montana.

The avalanche center’s daily advisory can be viewed by visiting www.flatheadavalanche.org.