Potent snowstorm expected in Glacier National Park this weekend

A potent snowstorm is expected to hit Glacier National Park Saturday night into Sunday, with snow levels dropping to valley floors by Sunday into Monday.

Temperatures Monday could struggle to get out of the 30s.

The higher elevations of Glacier, from 6,000 feet up, could see one to two feet of snow the National Weather Service said Thursday.  West Glacier and Columbia Falls could see anywhere from a few flakes to an inch or more of wet, slushy snow by Monday. 

If the storm comes to fruition as expected, it would close the alpine section of the Going-to-the-Sun Road for the season.  The full length of the road reopened earlier this week after a smaller snowstorm closed it last weekend for a few days,

Glacier typically keeps the road plowed between Lake McDonald Lodge and Avalanche Creek until mid-December, but with the government shutdown, it isn’t clear if that will happen. It typically does not plow the east side of highway once fall snows set it. 

Glacier typically closes the alpine section of the Sun Road in mid-October to winterize it, anyway. The road has multiple removable guardrails that have to be unbolted and stored on safe locations on the highway that are away from avalanches. 

They also put up long poles along the road’s sides so road crews can see where the roadbed is for spring plowing.