Flood — Blaine, Montana

2023-04-08 to 2023-04-10 · near Lohman, Blaine, Montana

Event narrative

Significant snowmelt resulted in flooding along Battle Creek, near Chinook. The creek crested on April 12th at 11.94 feet. Several roads across northern and central Blaine County were impacted as a result. Water was reported over Highway 2, west of Chinook, for a time. Runoff from Cypress Hills in southern Canada may have contributed to the flooding.

Wider weather episode

Unseasonably warm temperatures occurred in the first two weeks of April, with highs near 80 degrees occurring at times. These warm temps, along with occasional rain, resulted in melting of a deep snowpack on top of frozen ground which led to significant runoff into area waterways. Moderate to major flooding occurred along portions of the Milk River and its tributaries. Impactful snowmelt flooding also occurred across Southcentral Montana, in particular across the Gallatin Valley.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (48.7353, -109.4708)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1096908. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.