Old Man Winter isn't done yet

Just one week after the mercury levels in the thermometers reached the 70s and it looked liked spring had finally arrived in western Montana, Old Man Winter returned to Sanders County, leaving a blanket of snow on the ground and wreaking havoc on the sport schedule.

The boys of summer woke up Saturday to temperatures in the low 30s, snow showers and any hope of the little league season getting underway dashed. The little league season-opener wasn’t the only sporting event postponed Saturday. The Plains’ golf team decided they didn’t want to hit the links in the cold and wet conditions and canceled their invitational.

With blizzard conditions Sunday night leaving a layer of snow on the ground Monday morning, the Trotter softball team thought better of driving up to Eureka and will try their luck Friday instead.

The Noxon Red Devils are probably used to Mother Nature screwing up their sports schedule by now. With snow covering their fields, the junior high had to host their track meet in Plains and the Lady Red Devils softball team, who had home games scheduled as early as April 5, were only able to play their first home game last Thursday.

The wintry conditions may not be finished with throwing a wrench in the spring sport schedule, yet. Hot Springs has the Dave Tripp Memorial Track Meet scheduled for Thursday, which has a 30 percent of showers, according to the National Weather Service. The weather service also call for a slight chance of showers Saturday, the same day the Thompson Falls Invitational is scheduled.

Last weekend’s snow adds to a record breaking snowpack in the west end of the county. Craig Neesvig, a hydrologist for the Cabinet Ranger District, has been taking monthly measures of the snowpack in the Rock Creek drainage. Neesvig said the Forest Service has been taking these measurements for the past six years. He said they take them from three sites, at low, mid and high elevations.

Neesvig said that the snowpack in March at Chicago Ridge at 5,800 feet was at 150 percent of the six-year average, the mid-elevation site at Government Saddle was at 160 percent of the six-year average and the Rock Creek Meadows at 3,400 feet was at 194 percent of the six-year average. “These are the highest numbers we’ve had by far,” Neesvig said. According to Neesvig the average snow depth at Chicago Ridge is 134 inches, 121 inches at Government Saddle and 70 inches at Rock Creek Meadow.

“We’re going to have high water,” said Ray Nickless, a hydrologist for the National Weather Service in Missoula. Nickless said the weather service has not projected any floods in Sanders County, but that could change.

Nickless said with the high amount of snow still in the area that heavy rain storms in April or May could cause flooding. He said if the weather stays cool for a while and then suddenly warms up could also lead to flooding.

According to Nickless, the flood level of Prospect Creek is 7 1/2 feet. He said the weather service has projected the level of the creek between 5 feet, 6 inches and 7 feet, 4 inches. The flood level of the Thompson River is 7 feet and the level the weather service has projected is 4 feet, 6 inches to 6 feet. The flood level of the Clark Fork River near Plains is 16 feet and the weather service has projected the level to be between 13 feet, 7 inches and 16 feet.