Some fire restrictions lifted, Hungry Horse Reservoir reopens after rainstorm
Lightning from an incoming rainstorm flashes across the sky near Columbia Falls on Tuesday, Aug. 29. (Jeremy Weber/Bigfork Eagle)
Two days of healthy rainfall and cool temperatures across Northwest Montana brought an abrupt end to fire restrictions, while some public closures and evacuation notices were lifted.
Flathead County on Thursday transitioned from stage 2 fire rules to no restrictions at all. Glacier National Park and the Flathead and Kootenai national forests lifted all fire restrictions as well.
Stage 1 rules remain in place for the Flathead Reservation and Lake County.
Both mountain and valley locations recorded impressive rainfall totals from the rare August rainstorm.
Flattop Mountain in Glacier National Park and Big Mountain near Whitefish both picked up more than 3 inches of precipitation between Tuesday and Thursday morning. Columbia Falls recorded 2.7 inches, Whitefish 1.87 inches and Kalispell 1.34 inches, according to data from the National Weather Service in Missoula.
Kalispell recorded 2.95 inches of rain in August, well above the 0.73 average for the month.
Crews were working to clear a mudslide in Glacier National Park that crossed North Lake McDonald Road on Wednesday. The road has been closed to the public all summer due to a bridge replacement project.
The excessive moisture allowed the Flathead County Sheriff's Office to remove all evacuation notices and orders for residences affected by the Ridge, Doris Point and Tin Soldier fires near Hungry Horse Reservoir. Sheriff Brian Heino also removed notices and orders for the East Fork Fire near Olney.
Also on Thursday, public access was reopened to portions of the Hungry Horse Reservoir.
The east side road was expected to open Friday along the entire east shore to Spotted Bear Ranger Station. The reservoir was reopened for boating, while the east shore and islands were reopened to dispersed camping.
The west side road was to open to the Doris Point Boat Launch.
Forest Service Road 895 remained closed south of the Doris Point Boat Launch due to the Tin Soldier and Doris Point fires.
An area closure for the Ridge Fire remained in effect and includes the Desert Mountain Road and Emery Creek Road. Emery Bay Campground, however, was to reopen.
More than 400 firefighters on Thursday continued to build containment lines and finish repair work on the trio of fires. The latest estimates sized the Ridge Fire at 3,665 acres with 76% containment. The Doris Point Fire was 1,606 acres with 95% containment, and the Tin Soldier was 8,165 acres with 94% containment.
The East Fork Fire near Olney was 5,162 acres with 20% containment.
Rainfall totals were not as significant over the River Road East Fire in Sanders County, however crews were successful in expanding containment lines. The fire east of Plains was sized at 17,227 acres with 35% containment. More than 600 firefighters remained on the incident, including six helicopters.
The Flathead River closure from the Perma Bridge to the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes boundary was lifted on Wednesday.
A respite from the soggy weather arrives Friday and Saturday before another round of monsoonal moisture moves into the region.
"Storms appear to be most likely south of the Interstate 90 corridor through Saturday, but moisture is expected to spread all the way into Northwest Montana by Sunday," the National Weather Service stated in its Thursday forecast.
Some of the storms could produce heavy rainfall at times, the Weather Service warned.
Temperatures will run below average next week, with lows in the mid 40s in valley locations.