Flathead River below flood stage for first time in 2 weeks
David Glode takes photographs at the flooded Old Steel Bridge Fishing Access on the Flathead River in Evergreen on Wednesday, June 22. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
The Flathead River on Saturday dipped below flood stage for the first time in two weeks.
A river monitor at Columbia Falls showed the water level lowering below 13 feet on Saturday morning.
The river first entered flood stage June 11 at 6 p.m., and stayed between 13 and 15 feet over the next 14 days. The highest mark came June 15 at 14.88 feet. It peaked again June 21 at 14.68 feet.
Low-lying areas near the river have been swamped with high water over the last two weeks, causing evacuation notices for some residents in Columbia Falls, Evergreen and Kalispell.
The National Weather Service’s Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service projected the river would dip below 12 feet on Monday before rising again to 12.26 feet on Wednesday.
Flathead Lake, meanwhile, was still was few inches above its full pool mark on Monday.
The lake level is projected to drop to its normal full pool elevation by June 30. The lake level is managed by the SKQ Dam in Polson.
Whitefish Lake was at an elevation of 3,001 feet on Monday, down about 12 inches compared to one week ago. The lake is typically at 3,000 feet this time of year.