Winter storm starts with snow, ends with record lows
Though the sunshine looked warm last Thursday, it was bright but deceiving as temperatures hovered just below 0˚. This whitetail doe ventured down to the Clark Fork River near Dry Creek to break through the ice and get a drink. Can you spot the head of a buck bedded just up the river bank behind her, keeping watch? (Mineral Independent/Amy Quinlivan)
Plains covered in deep snow on Dec. 22. (Tracy Scott/Valley Press)
Winter Storm Elliott brought on onslaught of snow followed by near record cold temperatures during the days leading up to Christmas. Snow started to accumulate late Monday night on the 19th and continued steadily all-day Tuesday.
Weather observers around the county reported close to 18 inches in DeBorgia, over 12 inches in St. Regis and Thompson Falls, and around 10 inches in the Lozeau area. A semi accident just east of Riverbend had traffic backed up for several hours Tuesday afternoon into the evening.
After digging out Mineral County residents then braced for extreme cold temperatures as an Arctic cold front dropped down from Canada. Superior School District called off school for Thursday with highs only projected to reach zero degrees. Power outages plagued residents around Superior throughout the day Wednesday with frigid conditions forcing linemen out into dangerous conditions to frantically restore lines and get heat back on.
In the early morning hours Dec. 22, the mercury really began to plunge. St. Regis residents recorded 8 a.m. temps at -28F. Down in the West End local thermometers were reading -30F, while Superior was the “warm” spot at -15F at 9:30 a.m. Thompson Falls set a daily low record of minus 15.
Residents had to remain vigilant and run their water at night to avoid frozen pipes, and set extra alarms to wake up and feed their fireplaces.
For the most part Western Montana had it easy; as our Big Sky friends and family in the Eastern part of the state contended with negative temperatures down to -57F in Lincoln. The coldest windchill temperature of the arctic outbreak occurred in Malta, with a bitter -78F. Thankfully, the life-threatening cold weather was short lived, with a warm front that moved in just in time on Christmas Eve. Unfortunately, the storm system brought rain into the region and along with it balmy 40-degree temps for the week.
