Flood, Kootenai/Cabinet Region
- When
- March 20, 4:25 PM MST to 6:30 PM MST
- Where
- Kootenai/Cabinet Region forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 48.171, -114.863 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flooding in Montana, March 20, 1997
Six highway signs on Reserve St. down at Martin City, with one foot thick trees also down from snowmelt related high water.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 2 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 2
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
What happened
The episode as NWS MSO wrote it up.
Six highway signs on Reserve St. down at Martin City, with one foot thick trees also down from snowmelt related high water. Water is 2 feet deep between 3rd Street and 4th Street, 2 city blocks long. Six or more homes flooded in Martin City. At Libby, flooding is 4 inches deep on Pioneer Road with flooding in 25 homes and a trailer park. Some mudslides blocking roads and threatening homes.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
2 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Flood, West Glacier Region
- When
- March 20, 4:25 PM MST to 6:30 PM MST
- Where
- West Glacier Region forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 47.971, -114.069 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
What these are
- Flood
- Flooding that develops more slowly than a flash flood: rivers leaving their banks, or water standing over land for an extended time.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Flooding in Washington, March 20, 1997
- Flooding in Montana, March 20 to 22, 1997
- Flood in Kentucky, March 20, 1997
- High Wind in Montana, March 20, 1997
- Flood in Kentucky, March 20 to 21, 1997
- Flood in Montana, March 20 to 22, 1997
- Flood in Montana, March 20, 1997
- Heat in New Mexico, March 20 to 21, 1997
- Flood in Montana, March 20 to 21, 1997
- High Wind in Montana, March 20, 1997
- Flood in Kentucky, March 20 to 21, 1997
More
Every storm in Montana in 1997Every state in 1997This day in weather historyWarnings in Montana, March 1997
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5590421, 5590422.