Winter Storm — Lower Clark Fork Region, Montana

1996-11-18 to 1996-11-20 · Lower Clark Fork Region, Montana

Wider weather episode

Record heavy snow event with wind, that followed with areas of freezing rain throughout western Montana. By the afternoon of 11/18/96 Libby received 10 inches of new snow. 24 hour snowfall totals by the morning of 11/19/96 were: 35 inches at Essex; 20.1 inches at Kalispell and Lookout Pass; 18 inches at Conner and 30 miles south of Libby; 14 inches at Rock Creek, Victor and Darby; 12 inches at Plains, Seeley Lake and Helmville; 11.5 inches at Missoula and Potomac; 11 inches at Noxon and Bigfork; 10 inches at Lakeside, Olney and Libby; 8 inches at Deer Lodge; and 7 inches at Butte. By the evening of 11/19/96, Creston received 16 inches of new snow with white-out conditions reported on HWY 35. 3 miles west of Kalispell winds were reported up to 45 mph with 5 foot snow drifts. Snow drifts up to 7 to 8 feet were reported near Somers. St. Ignatius received 9 inches of new snow that turned to freezing rain and Libby reported 6 inches of new snow in 4 hours. Libby received an additional 20 inches of new snow and Whitefish 9 inches by the morning of 11/20/96.Two deaths occurred with this storm. A 39 year old woman died near Troy in Lincoln county, when her car skidded on ice and collided with another car. Another woman died near Thompson Falls in Sanders County when her car rolled into a ditch.Superior in Mineral County declared a state of emergency when the storm caused severe power outages, with the area without power for 40 hours. As many as 13,000 people were without power on 11/19/96 south and west of Missoula as snow, ice and freezing rain caused trees to snap onto power lines and poles or caused lines to short-circuit. Ice also downed a 100,000-volt transmission line near Superior. Numerous roads were closed throughout the area with some schools also closed.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5570313. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.