Storm Wreaks Havoc on Montana Tourist Spots

Heavy rainfall is forcing significant closures across Glacier National Park.

Park officials announced Monday that the entire Many Glacier Valley is closed to the public due to severe flooding. This includes the Many Glacier Hotel, Swiftcurrent Motor Inn, and all area campgrounds. The hotel and inn have been evacuated, and all trails in the valley are closed until further notice.

Commercial boat tours and horseback rides in the area have also been suspended.

The flooding has also impacted the Going-to-the-Sun Road. Access is currently restricted, with the west side closed at Avalanche and the east side closure moved to Rising Sun. Visitors should expect major detours and delays as crews respond to hazardous conditions, including rockslides and fast-moving water.

The National Weather Service has issued a rain and runoff warning for the region through Tuesday. So visiting the park is expected to remain problematic.

     Travelers are urged to check the park website for the latest updates or text "GNPROADS" to 333111 for status alerts.

Glacier National Park

Yellowstone visitors struggle with storm

The Cowboy State Daily reports that a rare, unseasonal late-June blizzard dropped heavy accumulating snow across the northern Rockies, forcing the immediate closure of the  Beartooth. National Park Service rangers have been deployed to clear jackknifed tourist vehicles, taking to social media to warn that sub-freezing temperatures and severe ice sheets also forced the emergency shutdown of major scenic loops inside Yellowstone National Park.

Northwest rivers running "hot" from rain

Flathead County Sheriff Brian Heino warned that the North and Middle forks of the Flathead River were rising rapidly last night and were expected to crest near 7 to 8 feet by midnight. He noted that resources will be stretched thin ahead of the 4th of July weekend and strongly urged floaters to watch for new river hazards like strainers and to wear life jackets. A flood watch remains in effect as rains taper off into Tuesday morning.

Storm brought record rains

This system wasn't dissimilar to a slow-moving system that had created cold, wet weather a few weeks ago. But National Weather Service meteorologist Brian Conlan says what was unusual was that a system would be carrying this much moisture, this late into June.

Conlan says what caught forecasters' attention was the way the low had moved over Central Montana and then into Canada, creating an unusual mix where the storm had warm air in the center, and cold air at the edge…

"It's quite unusual," Conlan observes. "Usually, we'll call these cold core lows, and that's why we were expecting the snow in the mountains. But as it got into Canada, it became a warm-core low, where the warmest air mass was right around the low pressure, and then there was colder air on the outskirts.

"That just fed the system and developed a really strong area of showers."

While some areas in the state only saw a trace of rain Monday, Missoula set a new daily record with just over 1" of rain. Some locations on the Northern Divide, like Glacier, were showing upwards of 6" of rain through the period.