The rain may be reminiscent of 1964, but the flooding will not be.

Heavy rains Tuesday and Wednesday are contributing to rising streams and rivers, but waterways will not reach the levels they did during the great flood 50 years ago.

On June 8-9, 1964, a catastrophic flood, fed by torrential rainfall, roared out of the mountains and created havoc from Marias Pass all the way to Flathead Lake.

That year the Flathead River crested at 25.58 feet at Columbia Falls.

This week the river is expected to peak at just over 13 feet.

While rain has been pouring down in Northwest Montana — over 6 inches in two days in the northern reaches of Glacier National Park — the recent downpour still is well below the deluge of 1964.

Fifty years ago, over a 30-hour period, 14 to 16 inches of rain fell on the Continental Divide in what is now the Bob Marshall and Great Bear wilderness areas, causing a flash runoff of mountain snowpack that was well above average.

One key difference is that the storm slamming Northwest Montana this week is bringing snow — not rain — to higher elevations.

“In 1964, it was all rain,” National Weather Service meteorologist Ray Nickless said Tuesday.

It was warm rain, too, that melted the snowpack and swelled rivers and creeks on both sides of the Continental Divide.

Another comparison:

The Middle Fork of the Flathead River at West Glacier is expected to crest this week at just under 8 feet.

In 1964 the Middle Fork surged to 36.46 feet, obliterated two bridges and toppled another and cut off Glacier National Park from the world.