Massive storm rips through northwest Montana, other weather news

A couple hours before a thunderstorm with hurricane level winds crashed through Missoula County on the evening of July 24, the Missoula National Weather Service posted an update on its Facebook page about a cluster of thunderstorms moving northeast through north-central Idaho with winds that have historically hit 50 to 60 miles per hour.

The post instructed readers to secure outdoor items before the storms arrived, and was just about spot on with the time estimate - 9 p.m.

Wind speeds of 81 mph were recorded at the Missoula airport, where the Missoula National Weather Service office is located. At the top of Mount Sentinel, speeds hit 109 mph.

Kelsey Lodge, communications manager for the Missoula Electric Cooperative, said the storm wiped out between 90% to 95% of MEC's service area. The cooperative provides power to residents in the Seeley-Swan Valleys and six other districts in Western Montana and Idaho, while Missoula gets power primarily from NorthWestern Energy.

"We are accustomed to winter storms, summer storms, high wind, but this (was) definitely an unprecedented storm as far as the damage left behind and the number of members that were out of power," Lodge said.

MEC reported 80 power poles down after the storm and 15,500 meters without power. By noon on Saturday, the cooperative reported 1,400 meters without power.

Missoula Electric Cooperative had most power restored to the Seeley Lake area by the evening following the storm, according to its website where frequent updates were provided. Ovando and Helmville saw power mostly restored by Friday when work started in the Condon area and continued in Potomac. By Friday evening, service was mostly restored in the Seeley-Swan and Potomac Valleys and through Ovando and Helmville.

By Sunday evening, all of MEC's Seeley-Swan area had power back other than six meters in north Condon, where a bad underground cable was discovered.

Additional updates from MEC can be found here: https://missoulaelectric.com/outage-updates/

Power outages were widespread through Missoula County, reaching from Condon to Missoula, the Bitterroot Valley and the Frenchtown area. Some spots were out of power overnight but got it back early the next morning, while other areas were anticipated to be out of power through the weekend, if not into the following week.

The discrepancy in power outages was similar to how different the damage looked on the ground - one block might have a few debris piles here and there while one over had multiple trees completely taken down, their roots sticking up horizontally.

NorthWestern Energy reported 40,000 customers without power. A customer service representative estimated 600 lines were down as of Friday. Close to 24 hours after the storm, NorthWestern reported about half of its customers were back online.

On July 26, NorthWestern reported "significant progress" was made in the Missoula downtown area, the University District, Target Range, the South Hills, Hillview Heights, Bonner, Lolo and Alberton. Eighty percent of power was restored by the evening of July 27 and by Sunday evening, 96% of NorthWestern's customers had power again.

The American Red Cross staffed the election center in Missoula to offer water, air conditioning, showers and charging capacity for phones or computers. As of Monday morning before press, county representatives said this service would continue to be offered from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. every day until power is completely restored across the county. Saturday after the storm bagged ice and water were available for people to pick up at Fort Missoula.

Missoula County issued water use restriction notices following the storm. On Friday morning, Missoula Water was using generators for power and only 50% of its water tanks were online. County officials urged residents to pause lawn watering and limit the use of washing machines, dishwashers, showers and baths. These restrictions were lifted Sunday evening.

Missoula County opened various spots in the Missoula area for debris drop off. On Saturday, county officials said incident management teams were exploring debris drop off locations for residents in Seeley Lake, Lolo and Frenchtown. The debris drop off locations available as of Monday morning at press are Garden City Compost, Fort Missoula, Larchmont triangle, Fort Missoula Ponds, City of Missoula Northside Lot and the University of Montana parking lot at South Avenue and Higgins Avenue.

Tyler Haines, with Haines Contracting in Seeley Lake, said he pulled a few large tree limbs off a roof in Seeley, and knows a lot of people have debris they want taken away.

River closures were placed on parts of the Clark Fork, Blackfoot and Bitterroot Rivers along with Rattlesnake Creek as downed power lines were observed in the water. As of Sunday evening, restrictions were still in place on the Bitterroot River from Chief Looking Glass Fishing Access Site to the confluence with the Clark Fork near Missoula and on Greenough Park.

Storm updates from Missoula County can be found here: https://www.missoulacounty.us/government/public-safety/office-of-emergency-management/missoula-county-storm. Non-emergent questions can be directed to 406-258-4636.

In other weather related news, on the day of the storm a Red Flag Warning was issued for the Missoula area due to a combination of low humidity and thunderstorm winds, which the NWS said could increase the risk of new and existing fires spreading rapidly.

According to Montana's Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, 11 wildfires started in both Missoula and Ravalli Counties between July 24 and 26. Eighty-five percent of the wildfires started in southwest Montana have been human-caused.

The Miller Creek fire south of Missoula, which has been the largest wildfire on the Lolo National Forest, had burned 2,724 acres and was 65% contained as of press on Monday morning.

The Scapegoat Wilderness entered stage one wildfire restrictions on July 25.

Stay up-to-date with evacuation warnings and notices by signing up for emergency alerts at Smart911.com.

After press the Pathfinder received an update from the county stating the Red Cross is no longer staffing the elections center.

This story was updated to further explain the Missoula Electric Cooperative's service area on Aug. 1 at 9:02 a.m.