Flood advisory extended into weekend

Instead of Havre “celebrating” breaking a record on snowfall, the region is continuing to deal with flooding as warm temperatures melt off the heavy snow this winter has dropped in the area.

National Weather Service expanded its flood advisory and extended it into the weekend, with the advisory for Blaine, Chouteau, Hill and Liberty counties extended to 1:30 p.m. Saturday.

Another flood advisory put out for Pondera and Teton counties also is in effect through Saturday afternoon, while they and Liberty and Chouteau counties were in a winter weather advisory through 10 a.m. this morning.

Blaine County Disaster and Emergency Services Coordinator Haley Velk said this morning she had not heard that flooding there had increased since Thursday, although she had not received full reports when she spoke to the Havre Daily News. She said creeks and the Milk River are high and probably will rise with warmer weather this weekend, but the cool night Thursday seemed to slow the flooding down.

Blaine County Road crews were working on flooding at Minor Coulee and runoff from fields had flooded a road at Lodge Creek Thursday.

A report made to the Hill County Commission Thursday forwarded to the Havre Daily News said multiple roads had some flooding in Hill County Thursday, including one road closure north of and between Gildford and Hingham and a road north of Inverness heavily washing out, but an update on status today was not available.

Flooding also was reported on a road just west of Big Sandy Thursday.

The Weather Service advisory said flooding could continue to occur particularly in small creeks and streams, country roads, farmland and other low-lying spots.

The advisory warns people to never drive across a flooded roadway. People driving in this region are advised to slow down and watch for flooding.

The forecast from early Thursday appeared to indicate Havre could continue its title of city with the worst winter of 2017-18 by setting a new record of annual snowfall, but the storm hitting the state, including the Bear Paw Mountains, barely touched Havre and points east.

As of this morning, Havre still was listed at 92.5 inches of snow for the year, with the record of 93.4 inches set in 1981.

Havre did receive some snowfall this morning. Rather than the 1 to 4 inches predicted as a possibility Thursday and Thursday night, with .01 inches of precipitation, the snowfall amount this morning was scant and not listed.

The forecast calls for highs in the 30s today and lows in the 20s tonight, which could slow flooding temporarily, but the highs are predicted to shoot up into the 40s or even 50s over the weekend, increasing the chance of more flooding.

Weather Service also predicts a chance of more snow, along with rain showers, early next week.

While Havre has to wait for a chance to break its record snowfall, two Montana cities have at least tied.

Weather Service reports that Billings today tied its record of 103.5 inches, set in the winter of 2013-14, while Choteau broke its seasonal record at 90.1 inches, just topping its previous record of 90 inches set in 1966-67.