National Weather Service issues flood watch until Thursday

The National Weather Service has issued a flood watch from Dec. 8 through 5 p.m. Dec. 11 as an atmospheric river of moisture is expected to stream across the Northwest and into Montana.

Columbia Falls and the Canyon could see 2 to 3 inches of rain by Thursday, National Weather Service meteorologist Travis Booth said Monday afternoon. 

Small streams and low-lying areas could flood as lower elevations will see all rain and there’s already snow on the ground. Higher elevations could see rain, but in the bulk of the storm, elevations above 5,500 feet will likely see 1 to 2 feet of snow by Thursday. 

There will be a surge of moisture Monday night, a break on Tuesday and then it will ramp back up Tuesday into Wednesday, Booth said. 

Central Idaho is expected to get the worst of it. By Thursday in Clearwater and Idaho counties, significant precipitation totals are forecast, with 2 to 4 inches in the valleys and 5 to 8 inches in the mountains, with locally higher totals over mountain crests. 

The forecast continues wet and dreary through the weekend, with highs in the mid 30s Saturday to near 40 Sunday. 

The last significant fall flood in the region was Nov. 8, 2006, when heavy rain flooded Glacier National Park, wiping out bridges over McDonald Creek and heavily damaging the Going-to-the-Sun Road on both sides of the Divide. 

This time though, the higher elevations of Glacier should see snow, not rain, Booth noted.