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News you can use
The tail end of a miles-long ice jam on the Milk River impedes water flow and raises the water level in the river east of Havre Sunday morning. Along with ice jams, rapidly melting snow is raising water levels and causing flooding, including along local highways like U.S. Highway 2, U.S. Highway 87 and Montana highways 232, 234 and 241. Flood watches and advisories are in effect in the area.
The warmer weather finally is melting off months of accumulated snow, but with the melting snow is coming flooding,
Montana Department of Transportation's online road report map this morning warned of water across the road on U.S. Highway 87 near Big Sandy, on U.S. Highway 2 just east of Kremlin, on Montana Highway 232 just south of the Canadian border, and on Montana Highway 241 just outside of Harlem.
National Weather Service has a flood warning in effect through Wednesday for northern Blaine and western Hill counties and all of Liberty County along with western and southern Chouteau County.
The warning said excessive runoff may result in flooding of creeks, streams and other low-lying and flood-prone locations, especially on creeks and streams emanating from the Bear Paw Mountains.
Creeks and streams may rise out of their banks.
The rest of Blaine, Chouteau and Hill counties are under a flood advisory to 6 p.m. today.
Snowmelt could result in minor flooding in low-lying and poor drainage areas and water over roadways, with MDT reporting flooding by 3 this morning, the advisory said.
It added that some locations that will experience flooding include Havre, Chinook, Big Sandy, Harlem, Parker School, Agency, Azure, Sangrey, St. Pierre, Beaver Creek, Boneau, Box Elder, Fort Belknap, Gildford, Hays, Hingham, Lloyd, Lohman, Rocky Boy and Laredo.
"Turn around, don`t drown when encountering flooded roads," the advisory added. "Most flood deaths occur in vehicles."
The advisory offers online advice for dealing with flooding at http://www.weather.gov/safety/flood .
Commissioner Mark Peterson said this morning that he drove around to look things over Sunday in his district in northeast Hill County.
"Some areas are running good, some are about to run and others have not started to melt and run," he said.
He added that water is over the road on Montana Secondary Highway 234 - Beaver Creek Road - and that he is sure it will go over many county roads before it is over.
Some local agricultural producers have reported water overflowing culverts and going over roads.
Peterson said Beaver Creek Reservoir this morning was still below the spillway and the county was letting out more than was coming in.
"At some point, I expect it to go over the spillway," Peterson said. "Rocky Boy is working with us with the East Fork Dam, trying to control the release to a manageable level."
He said Hill County Road Department is out flagging spots that water is on or over the roads, and Commissioner Jake Strissel is checking roads in his district in western Hill County this morning and they would check roads north this afternoon.
The Blaine County Road Department Facebook Page had a post at noon Sunday with a list of road warnings and closures.
Temperatures are expected to hit the 60s today - Big Sandy has a forecast high of 70 - and 60s again Tuesday, with highs in this area to be in the 40s for the rest of the week.
That follows a winter with significant snowfall, including some recent heavy snowstorms in the Bear Paw Mountains.
The recording station at the Havre City-County Airport reported 11.6 inches of snowfall since March 1, and 64.5 inches since July 1, closing in on double the normal amount of 39.1 inches.
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