Rain pours in north-central Montana

A major storm dropped a major amount of rain in this part of the state, shutting down some of the events planned for a jam-packed weekend but not even slowing down others, as much-needed 1 inch to 2 inches of precipitation fell from east of Shelby to Harlem and down to Great Falls.

"This rainfall was a really beneficial rain to recharge the subsurface moisture," National Weather Service meteorologist Jim Brusda of Great Falls said this monring. " ... This siginificantly helped out that situation."

The rain started the previous weekend, with Havre recording a bit - .07 inches - at the National Weather Service station at Havre City-County Airport Friday, May 26, and .41 inches May 27.

None was recorded Sunday, May 28, and .19 inches was recorded for Havre last Monday, but none was recorded Tuesday.

Then the downpour started.

Havre saw three-quarters of an inch of precipitation Wednesday, more than half-an-inch, .51 hundredths, Thursday, another .76 inches Friday and 1.14 inches Saturday.

Brusda said some damage was reported, but most of the steady rain just soaked into the ground.

It did cause some damage. The road on the west end of the dam at Bear Paw Lake sloughed off on the lake side by Saturday morning, leading Hill County Sheriff's Office personnel to direct traffic at the site while Fish, Wildlife and Parks, which owns and operates the lake, was notified.

Cody Nagel, Region 6 fish biologist in Havre, said that the FWP maintenance supervisor assessed the damage this morning and determined that the road where it goes over the dam on the north end of the lake would be closed to traffic until repairs could be made.

Nagel said the dam may also be closed to foot traffic now or in the future, but people will still be able to access the walking trail driving in from the southern entrance to the lake off Sawmill Gulch Road.

As of now, all the camping and fishing access is open other than driving across the dam, Nagel added, and the public will be notified of any changes to access and when repairs are finalized.

Brusda said Birdtail and Mitzvah roads in Blaine County had minor flooding, and Clear Creek was at or near flood stage at 8.9 feet.

He said no hail was reported in this part of the state, but at the southeast end of the major rainfall, near Lewistown, pingpong ball-sized hail was reported.

Other reports came in, mainly of inadequate drainage. In Havre, water was reported coming out of a manhole cover on U.S. Highway 2 Northeast and flooding at some intersections was reported, as well as reports of some basements flooding.

Brusda said this week has a chance of some more severe storms, although what he listed likely will not compare to last week's soaker for total regional rainfall. He said the reports do include warnings of possible flash floods due to isolated heavy storms, although where they could happen is impossible to predict.

He said a chance of severe weather is in today's forecast, and basically every day this week.

Wednesday and Thursday have more of a chance of heavy storms, increasing to the chances of flash flooding for later Thursday and into Friday.

The rainfall has significantly helped the moisture levels in this area, which had been behind for years, including this year until, now.

By the end of March, Havre, mostly driven by heavy snow, had reached much more than the normal amount of precipitation for that time of year. March 27, Havre had 1.25 inches of rain for the year, just more than the normal amount of 1.21 inches.

But that followed years of shortages. At that time, National Weather Service listed Havre at more than 9 inches short from Jan. 1, 2018, to March 12, 2023, the most recent data available when the March 27 article was written.

The water levels received after this weekend now are much higher.

For the year, Havre was listed as of Sunday at 6.41 inches of precipitation, with the normal value 4.54 inches.

For the water year, measured from Oct. 1 through Sept. 30, which includes snowfall including a record amount in December, the situation is ever better. Havre was listed Sunday as having 9.95 inches for the water year, with the normal amount 6.18 inches.

--

Havre Daily News reporter Pam Burke contributed to this report.