Blackfeet Reservation buried by blizzards

Communities east of the Continental Divide are bearing the brunt of Montana’s snowier-than-usual winter.

Jim Brusda, lead meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s Missoula office, said that East Glacier has seen 80 inches of snow this month, well over last February’s record of 72.5 inches, and that the region has been under a blizzard warning on and off since Friday. One remained in effect until Wednesday.

“Temperatures are staying cold, it’s been lasting for several days, and the breaks [between snowfalls] are very short,” he said.

These conditions have posed an ongoing challenge for first responders and volunteers on the Blackfeet Reservation.

“The biggest hurdle that we’re facing is blowing and drifting snow,” said Robert DesRosier, director of disaster and emergency services for the Blackfeet Nation. He said the area’s snowdrifts measure “anywhere from 10 yards deep to 15 yards long.”

“The problem is [that] the drifts are bigger than the plows,” he said. Clearing them requires snowblowers, front-end loaders and other heavy equipment.

DesRosier said that help and machinery have come from as far away as Missoula and the Fort Peck Indian Reservation. But facing this sustained snowfall, he explained that “it’s just a day-to-day thing, trying to keep roads open.”

The Montana Department of Transportation’s Travel Info map showed that U.S. 89 was closed from Saint Mary, and MT 464 was closed from Babb to Robere. U.S. 2 east of Snowslip was shut down Tuesday morning but re-opened by the afternoon.

That’s made vital daily tasks impossible for Blackfeet residents.

“We’re averaging 60 to 70 calls a day” at the Blackfeet Nation’s incident command center, DesRosier said. “We’re prioritizing the emergencies.”

He said that two rescue teams, one with three and one with four members, and a “whole contingent of ambulance personnel” were responding to the most serious situations. He also estimated they had made 25 to 30 food deliveries, and many more of medication and firewood, over the course of the storm.

“We’ve been under severe winter conditions for quite some time and I think we’re doing pretty well,” he said.

The Weather Service currently projects wind speeds to drop through Thursday. But the likelihood of snow will increase again Thursday night. Brusda said that with the region’s climate outlook for March showing above-average precipitation and below-average temperatures, “this pattern that we’re in is likely to continue.”

When spring eventually comes, massive snowmelt could pose still more trouble for the area, although Brusda said it’s too early to assess the flooding risk.

But whatever happens next, DesRosier predicts this will “be a storm we’re talking about for quite some time.”

Patrick Reilly can be reached at preilly@dailyinterlake.com, or at 758-4407.