Ft. Belknap power out, Havre coldest in lower 48

The record-setting snow in the region has tapered off, but winter followed that with another serious problem — bitterly cold temperatures hitting the area.

The frigid weather caused a power outage at the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation — although the severe cold is not expected to last.

Loren "Bum" Stiffarm, chief administrative officer for the Fort Belknap Indian Community, said this morning power had been out at the reservation all night. A meeting about the problem was set for 8:30 a.m. at Fort Belknap.

"We're just trying to get a sense of everything," Stiffarm said. "It was pretty wicked last night."

Further comment about the Fort Belknap situation was not available by deadline this morning.

According to the National Weather Service, Havre just missed the low in the state as of 5 a.m. with minus 39 degrees. Chinook recorded the state low at that point with minus 42 degrees.

Havre soon matched that, with the temperature at the Havre City-County Airport listed minus 42 shortly before 7 a.m.

Chinook's temperature by 7 a.m. was not available this morning.

The Associated Press early this morning had reported Havre as the coldest spot in the lower 48 states — with a temperature of minus 31 degrees.

The weather hasn't shut down many schools — aside from Hays-Lodge Pole, with the Fort Belknap power outage — although some districts, including Havre Public Schools, did shut down most rural bus routes.

Rhonda Baker, superintendent at Harlem Public Schools, said that district did cancel some rural routes but school was in session this morning. The district personnel planned to monitor the weather and if there was no letup in the cold, school would be released about 1 p.m., to make certain the students could get home safely, she said.

The cold has been causing some problems for Havre residents, with representatives of the city Public Works Department issuing a notice to homeowners that reports of water service lines freezing have been coming in. The notice advised people to leave a trickle of water running from an open faucet to prevent lines from freezing, even after the temperatures above ground warm up.

The cold temperature pretty well blanketed the state.

Of the 47 locations listed in the National Weather Service report at 5 a.m., two spots had recorded lows above zero in the previous 24 hours. Those were Ronan with a low of 2 degrees and Thompson Falls with a low of 5 degrees.

The highs were not much higher. Of the 47 locations, 16 recorded highs above zero with the highest at Libby with 23 degrees. Libby's low was minus 11.

Many of those highs were close to zero. Seven of the locations with highs above zero recorded top temperatures of 10 degrees or colder.

The cold is not expected to continue. The forecast for tonight in Havre calls for mostly clear skies with a low of minus 5 to minus 20, but with wind chills making it feel as cold as minus 35.

The temperatures are expected to moderate in the Havre area Wednesday, with increasing clouds and highs of 25 to 35, although wind chills are expected to be as low as 30 below zero in the morning.

The lows Wednesday night are forecast at 10 to 15 degrees, with a high Thursday forecast at 30 to 35 degrees.

Lows in the teens to 20s with highs in the 30s and 40s are forecast through Saturday, with the temperatures Sunday and Monday forecast at a more seasonally normal lows of 5 to 10 degrees and highs 15 to 25 degrees.

The record-setting snow in the region has tapered off, but winter followed that with another serious problem — bitterly cold temperatures hitting the area.

The frigid weather caused a power outage at the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation — although the severe cold is not expected to last.

Loren "Bum" Stiffarm, chief administrative officer for the Fort Belknap Indian Community, said this morning power had been out at the reservation all night. A meeting about the problem was set for 8:30 a.m. at Fort Belknap.

"We're just trying to get a sense of everything," Stiffarm said. "It was pretty wicked last night."

Further comment about the Fort Belknap situation was not available by deadline this morning.

According to the National Weather Service, Havre just missed the low in the state as of 5 a.m. with minus 39 degrees. Chinook recorded the state low at that point with minus 42 degrees.

Havre soon matched that, with the temperature at the Havre City-County Airport listed minus 42 shortly before 7 a.m.

Chinook's temperature by 7 a.m. was not available this morning.

The Associated Press early this morning had reported Havre as the coldest spot in the lower 48 states — with a temperature of minus 31 degrees.

The weather hasn't shut down many schools — aside from Hays-Lodge Pole, with the Fort Belknap power outage — although some districts, including Havre Public Schools, did shut down most rural bus routes.

Rhonda Baker, superintendent at Harlem Public Schools, said that district did cancel some rural routes but school was in session this morning. The district personnel planned to monitor the weather and if there was no letup in the cold, school would be released about 1 p.m., to make certain the students could get home safely, she said.

The cold has been causing some problems for Havre residents, with representatives of the city Public Works Department issuing a notice to homeowners that reports of water service lines freezing have been coming in. The notice advised people to leave a trickle of water running from an open faucet to prevent lines from freezing, even after the temperatures above ground warm up.

The cold temperature pretty well blanketed the state.

Of the 47 locations listed in the National Weather Service report at 5 a.m., two spots had recorded lows above zero in the previous 24 hours. Those were Ronan with a low of 2 degrees and Thompson Falls with a low of 5 degrees.

The highs were not much higher. Of the 47 locations, 16 recorded highs above zero with the highest at Libby with 23 degrees. Libby's low was minus 11.

Many of those highs were close to zero. Seven of the locations with highs above zero recorded top temperatures of 10 degrees or colder.

The cold is not expected to continue. The forecast for tonight in Havre calls for mostly clear skies with a low of minus 5 to minus 20, but with wind chills making it feel as cold as minus 35.

The temperatures are expected to moderate in the Havre area Wednesday, with increasing clouds and highs of 25 to 35, although wind chills are expected to be as low as 30 below zero in the morning.

The lows Wednesday night are forecast at 10 to 15 degrees, with a high Thursday forecast at 30 to 35 degrees.

Lows in the teens to 20s with highs in the 30s and 40s are forecast through Saturday, with the temperatures Sunday and Monday forecast at a more seasonally normal lows of 5 to 10 degrees and highs 15 to 25 degrees.